Tubulis has closed a Series A financing round of EUR 10.7 million. The start-up intends to use the funds to accelerate the development of a new class of highly stable and effective antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and to continue to grow as a company. The financing round was co-led by BioMedPartners and High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) with support from Seventure Partners, coparion, Bayern Kapital and OCCIDENT alongside significant contributions by high net worth individuals and the founders.
Tubulis was spun out in 2019 from the Leibniz Research Institute in Berlin (FMP) and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) with the aim of expanding the therapeutic potential of ADCs for cancer and other disease indications.
Tubulis' ADC portfolio consists of two proprietary technologies:
P5 conjugation is a novel technology for cysteine-selective conjugations. It allows the development of particularly stable ADCs with high linker stability and chemical flexibility. This enables the rapid identification of potential development candidates.
The Tub-tag® platform is inspired by the biology of microtubules. The Tub-tag® modification of the antibody creates a beneficial microenvironment for the coupling of very challenging compounds. In addition, the Tub-tag® derived from the human system reduces the risk of undesired immune responses.
Tubulis will prioritize the use of these technologies for internal drug discovery and development activities to generate uniquely matched antibody-drug conjugates, tailored to the respective indication.
“Tubulis’ objective is to use our dual platform approach to generate uniquely matched and disease-specific ADCs that combine selective antibodies with effective payloads,” said Dominik Schumacher, CEO and co-founder of Tubulis. “The funding committed by this experienced syndicate represents a validation of our technology and reflects the recent renaissance in ADC development in our industry. These proceeds will enable us to continue validating our platforms and to move our first two selected ADC candidates towards the clinic.”
Michael Wacker, Partner at BioMed Partners commented: “Tubulis is tackling the limitations of current ADCs head-on and is helping to shape the future of ADCs for the treatment of a broad range of diseases. We look forward to supporting the team at Tubulis as they continue to build the company in a growing field with a high need for innovative solutions.”
The young company has already been recognized with several start-up awards. These include the m4 Award 2017, coordinated by BioM, the "Outstanding Start-up Award", the Venture.Med 2019, the "Leibniz Entrepreneurship Award" and the award as official "EIT Health Success Story". Furthermore, Tubulis is an EIT Health Investor Networkcompany supported company.