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m4 Award winner Tubulis on the road to success: 128 million euros in Series B2 funding for the fight against solid tumors

The management team of Tubulis GmbH (f l t r): Dr. Günter Fingerle-Rowson, MD (CMO), Dr. Jonas Helma-Smets (CSO), Dr. Dominik Schumacher (CEO, Member of the Supervisory Board), Dr. Ingo Lehrke (CBO) and Dr. Björn Hock (CDO). © Tubulis GmbH

The Munich Biotech-Startup and m4 Award winner Tubulis, located in Planegg/Martinsried closes an upsized EUR 128 million Series B2 to accelerate clinical of solid tumor-focused ADC pipeline.

Tubulis today announced the successful completion of an upsized and oversubscribed EUR 128 million (USD 138.8 million) Series B2 financing. The financing round is co-led by EQT Life Sciences and Nextech Invest1, with participation from current and new leading global biotechnology investors. The proceeds will support clinical evaluation of lead solid tumor ADC candidates, TUB-030 and TUB-040, further technology development and expansion into the US.

As a spin-off of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) Munich and the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP) Berlin, Tubulis develops a pipeline of uniquely matched antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) with an indication-tailored targeting molecule and payload combination to develop novel ADCs with superior properties. The aim is to provide gentler and more efficient forms of therapy in the treatment of cancer. Tubulis won the m4 Award pre-seed competition coordinated by BioM prior to its company foundation. Tubulis has to date raised over €187 million through its financing rounds and non-dilutive funding.

The proceeds of the Series B2 will primarily support progress in Tubulis’ pipeline of next-generation ADCs toward clinical evaluation and help achieve clinical proof-of-concept for lead candidates, TUB-040 and TUB-030. TUB-040 addresses tumor-antigen Napi2b, a well-characterized target in ovarian and lung cancer and TUB-030 targets 5T4, an antigen often overexpressed in solid tumors. Preclinical proof-of-concept data for these two candidates will be presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in April. The company expects to start its first Phase 1/2a clinical trial, including dose escalation and dose optimization cohorts in 2024.

The capital will also fund the expansion of Tubulis’ suite of technology platforms to unlock novel payloads for the development of versatile and customizable ADCs. In line with the addition of new US investors, Tubulis plans to increase its corporate footprint by establishing a US subsidiary.

“This substantial financing from a syndicate of global specialist biotech investors recognizes Tubulis’ unique position in the ADC space. Our proprietary platform technologies and internal know-how are the foundation for our pipeline of truly differentiated protein-drug conjugates,” said Dominik Schumacher, PhD, CEO and Co-founder of Tubulis. “Our goal is to establish Tubulis as a global ADC leader as we transition into a clinical-stage company and harness the full power of ADCs to bring their therapeutic value to patients with solid tumors.”

In conjunction with the financing, Christoph Broja, Managing Director at EQT Life Sciences and Kanishka Pothula, Managing Partner at Nextech Invest will join Tubulis’ Supervisory Board.

1 Nextech Invest Ltd, on behalf of one or more funds managed by it.


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