The closure of the Cambridge-based biotech company’s round of funding at $91 million will allow it to develop its pipeline of drugs. 

Cambridge-based T-Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing T cell receptor (TCR) therapeutics for cancer and autoimmune disease, has completed the expansion of its Series A funding to $91 million (£69.2 million). A further $32 million follows the initial $59 million raised. 

New investors Tencent and BGF joined the Series A syndicate, alongside all existing major shareholders Sofinnova Partners, F-Prime, Digitalis Ventures, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Sanofi Ventures and the University of Cambridge Venture Fund.

“Our transformative medicines tackle upstream disease-drivers that can have pan-indication impact. We are delighted to have significantly added to our Series A financing, which we see as a strong validation of both our technology and our progress to date,” said chief executive Theodora Harold. 

Upstream disease-drivers 

T-Therapeutics has said that it will use the additional proceeds to drive its pipeline of TCR-CD3 bispecifics – engineered proteins that can bind to two different targets – across oncology and autoimmune diseases towards the clinic, including the further exploration of new therapeutic strategies such as T cell subset depletion. 

The firm’s lead asset in oncology exploits a pan-tumour driver target, applicable across multiple solid tumour types. Its lead immunology programme is a pan-autoimmune bispecific designed for precision immune reset, achieved by the selective depletion of pathogenic immune cells.

T-Therapeutics’ TCR platform can generate an almost unlimited repertoire of high specificity, fully human TCRs, enabling access to validated, but previously undruggable, intracellular targets. 

The company also leverages its proprietary next-generation CD3 T cell engagers (TCEs), which have been engineered for high potency, safety and favourable pharmacokinetics. TCRs generated from the platform are combined with the proprietary TCEs to form bispecific drug candidates. 

T-Therapeutics’ pipeline is focused on upstream disease drivers with pan-indication potential to deliver significant clinical benefit for patients.