With its record-breaking EUR 344 million Series C financing, Tubulis has set a new benchmark for European biotech. BioM spoke with Dr. Dominik Schumacher, co-founder and CEO of Tubulis, about the company’s growth strategy, its ambitions in the global ADC market, and the pivotal role of the Munich-Martinsried biotech hub in Tubulis’ success.
BioM: EUR 344 million – congratulations on the largest Series C financing round ever raised by a European biotech company. What does this achievement mean for Tubulis from a financial and strategic perspective, particularly in terms of its positioning in the global ADC market?
Dr. Dominik Schumacher: This level of financial support means that a highly experienced group of biotech specialist funds were convinced to invest in the company based on what we have achieved to date with our technology and clinical-staged programs, and how we intend to move our programs forward toward advanced clinical evaluation. Our goal is to be a global ADC leader bringing a range of novel and differentiated ADC medicines to patients. This financing enables us to execute on the next steps in clinical development and technology optimization from a position of strength.
The funds are to be used for the clinical development of TUB-040 and the expansion of the pipeline. How do you prioritize the use of capital between clinical development, platform technologies, and potential commercialization – and what financial milestones do you have in mind?
We have clear clinical, R&D, strategic and operational objectives. For a biotech company to be successful, the leadership team has to focus on each area of the business and to be honest, they all have priority. The goal for this round was firstly to enable Tubulis to accelerate the clinical development of our lead ADC candidate, TUB-040, into earlier lines of therapy and additional tumor indications; second, to expand our pipeline, including advancing our next-in-line clinical-staged program TUB-030; and thirdly to continue to innovate on all aspects of ADC design. We have built an investor syndicate that shares our focus on both the near-term milestones and our long-term vision with a depth of experience in successfully building global biotech leaders.
In an environment where biotech financing is under pressure globally, Tubulis has achieved a record deal. In your view, what factors were decisive for this success – and how do you intend to position Tubulis to be financially resilient in future market cycles?
At the end of the day, investors are focused on how a company has demonstrated it can drive value and how it will continue to do so. For this round, we have been able to show solid execution on our clinical development objectives and generated very encouraging data, which reduces the development risk and builds trust with our investors. We will seek to maintain financial resilience through operational and strategic focus, and thoughtful and sustainable growth.
With strong international investors, Tubulis has built up an impressive network. How do you intend to secure this trust in the long term, and what financial strategy are you pursuing to prepare Tubulis sustainably for a possible next phase – such as a partnership or an IPO?
Long-term trust with our international investors rests on consistently meeting key milestones, maintaining transparent guidance, and upholding governance best practices. When it comes to our future plans, we are committed to continuously evaluating all options based on our needs and the broader market environment.
At ESMO 2025, Tubulis presented encouraging first clinical data for TUB-040 showing promising efficacy and safety results. What significance do these data have for Tubulis’ positioning in the competitive ADC landscape – and how might they impact future partnership or commercialization strategies?
The data validate our overall clinical strategy, reinforce the power of our technologies, and demonstrate the transformative potential of TUB-040 in ovarian cancer. At the same time, as part of our broader business strategy, we are open to additional meaningful strategic partnerships that have the potential to maximize both the impact and reach of our innovative assets.
Tubulis is a prime example of the innovative strength of the Munich-Martinsried biotech cluster: m4 Award 2017, a billion-dollar agreement with BMS in 2023, a Series B2 financing round of EUR 128 million in 2024 alone, and a license agreement with Gilead Sciences with potential milestone payments of up to EUR 378 million. How important has this location been for the company's success to date and how does Tubulis intend to contribute to strengthening the biotech ecosystem in Munich and Bavaria in the future?
Our location at the IZB Martinsried has been pivotal for Tubulis. Munich‑Martinsried is a launchpad for ADC innovation, with direct access to LMU, the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Helmholtz Munich, a dense startup network, and exceptional regional talent. Looking ahead, we plan to expand our headquarters here and also grow our US and Swiss presence to attract talent, capital and partners. By continuing to scale programs like TUB‑040 and our platform locally, we aim to help drive positive clinical, talent, and infrastructure spillovers that will benefit the biotech ecosystem across Munich and Bavaria.
Thank you for the interview, Dr. Schumacher!