Accession Therapeutics raises £16.6m for preclinical trials

Accession Therapeutics, based at Oxford Business Park, which is developing novel immuno-oncology therapeutics, has raised £16.6 million to advance its two lead preclinical programmes to clinical trials. New investors, including the Singaporean fund iGlobe Partners, join Primavera Venture Partners, Birk Venture and biotech angels in backing the potential of the company’s Trocept platform to deliver highly potent anticancer payloads with minimal toxicity. The CEO and founder of Accession Therapeutics is Bent Jakobsen, PhD FMedSci, a pioneer of T cell receptor therapy for cancer.

The Trocept approach uses an adenovirus which has been genetically modified by Professor Alan Parker’s laboratory at Cardiff University to exclusively target cancer cells. Accession Therapeutics believes that this makes it the first company to be able to develop therapeutics with a discriminatory viral point of entry into cancer cells. With the virus carrying a transgene coding for one or more agents (such as antitumour or immune activator drugs or prodrugs), this engineered specificity enables the company to target some of the hardest to treat and most widespread forms of the disease, such as breast, cervical, colorectal, gastric, head and neck, lung, oral, ovarian and pancreatic cancer.

Bent Jakobsen, PhD FMedSci, CEO of Accession Therapeutics, said, ‘We are delighted to have closed so soon this second fundraising round with the support of new investors, including iGlobe Partners, and our existing investors. With the Trocept platform Accession Therapeutics believes it has the ability to create ideal immunotherapies, specific in target and potent in effect with minimal toxicity. We’re focused on advancing our lead programmes to the clinic as rapidly as possible.’

Managing Partner of iGlobe Partners Dr Yoke Sin Chong, said, ‘iGlobe Partners is delighted to support Accession Therapeutics in its strategy to bring about a step change in the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapies. We look forward to working with the company as it develops an exciting pipeline of drug candidates to induce, attract, activate and target broad and potent immune responses against cancer.’