Grant to advance development of Cryptigen immunotherapeutics for cancer
CAMBRIDGE, UK and MONTREAL, CANADA, 12 September 2024 - Epitopea, a transatlantic cancer immunotherapeutics company developing accessible off-the-shelf RNA-based immunotherapies, announces it has been awarded a grant of just over £500,000 (approximately $658,000 USD) from Innovate UK.
Epitopea was selected to receive funding from Innovate UK’s £12 million Cancer Therapeutics programme (1), which will provide a non-dilutive grant in support of research that is aimed at developing both therapeutic vaccines and T cell receptor-based therapies targeting antigens that are differentially presented by stromal cells. This class of therapies has the potential to impact patient outcomes given the well-established role of stromal cells in thwarting a therapeutic response to many established therapies.
The antigens in question were discovered by Epitopea’s CryptoMapTM platform, which enables targeting of a new class of untapped tumor specific antigens, known as CryptigenTM TSAs, that are broadly shared across multiple patients with the same tumor type. Epitopea intends to leverage these aberrantly expressed CryptigenTM TSAs to expand its therapeutic pipeline of RNA immunotherapies aimed at extending the durability of patient responses.
Dr. Jon Moore, Epitopea’s CSO, said:
“We believe better cancer therapies are needed to transform the lives of patients, especially in hard-to-treat solid tumors where overall survival can still be poor. Targeting stromal cells with immunotherapeutics represents an attractive and highly differentiated approach that we believe may translate into a deeper, more durable therapeutic response. We are therefore delighted that we have secured this grant support from Innovate UK’s Cancer Therapeutics programme, in recognition of our work developing life-changing cancer therapeutics.”
Dr Karen Spink, Head of Medicines at Innovate UK, said:
“We are excited to see the diversity of businesses that have been supported through our Cancer Therapeutics programme. The industry-led R&D projects will advance transformative treatments for a range of cancers. This portfolio of investments will diversify the pipeline of targeted, safe, and effective therapies for cancer patients.”
References
(1) UKTI press release
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Notes To Editors
Contact information
Epitopea
Dr. Alan C. Rigby – CEO
Alan.Rigby@epitopea.com
Scius Communications
Katja Stout
+44 7789 435990
katja@sciuscommunications.com
Daniel Gooch
+44 7747 875479
Daniel@sciuscommunications.com
About Epitopea
Epitopea is a transatlantic cancer immunotherapeutics company developing accessible off-the-shelf RNA-based immunotherapies for use in hard-to-treat cancers by targeting a new class of untapped antigens that are broadly shared across multiple patients with the same tumor type.
The company has created an extensive library of novel CryptigenTM TSAs, discovered by its proprietary CryptoMapTM platform that leverages immunopetidomics, genomics, and a bioinformatics pipeline, allowing the identification of aberrantly-expressed, tumor-specific antigens (aeTSA’s) that are hidden within cancer’s ’junk’ DNA. These hidden CryptigenTM TSAs were first discovered through research led by Drs. Claude Perreault and Pierre Thibault at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer at the Université de Montréal.
Epitopea is backed by leading transatlantic life science investors including Advent Life Sciences, CTI Life Sciences, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Le Fonds de Solidarité FTQ, the Harrington Discovery Institute, Novateur Ventures, and Investissement Québec. The company has raised financing of more than $13 Million USD. Epitopea was founded in 2021 and consists of sister companies based in Cambridge, UK and in Montreal, Canada. For additional information, please visit www.epitopea.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), is the UK’s innovation agency. It works to create a better future by inspiring, involving and investing in businesses developing life-changing innovations. Its mission is to help companies to grow through their development and commercialisation of new products, processes and services, supported by an outstanding innovation ecosystem that is agile, inclusive and easy to navigate.
