AsianScientist (Dec. 21, 2017) – Tessa Therapeutics, an international clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focusing on T cell therapy for solid tumors, has announced the completion of a US$80 million financing round led by Temasek, an investment company headquartered in Singapore. The latest funding round was joined by EDBI, Karst Peak Capital, Heliconia, Heritas and other investors.
“We are very pleased with the success in this financing round which validates our work and continued progress in the development of Tessa’s Virus Specific T (VST) cell platform technology and clinical pipeline,” said Mr. Andrew Khoo, co-founder and CEO of Tessa Therapeutics. “Tessa plans to expand its global presence and advance next generation cellular therapies targeting a wide range of cancer indications.”
In recent years, Tessa has built robust operational and supply chain capabilities allowing the company to effectively deliver autologous T cell therapy treatments to a large patient pool internationally. Its VST cell technology is already showing compelling results in the treatment of solid tumors.
VST cells are produced through a selective expansion process that gives them the ability to infiltrate and survive in solid tumors long enough to attack and destroy them from within, a key differentiator to other cell therapies.
Tessa’s VST cells migrate to the tumor site and kill cancer cells with precision, leaving healthy cells unharmed, which leads to high treatment efficacy and safety. The company is currently conducting a multi-center Phase III trial targeting nasopharyngeal cancer and a Phase I trial targeting cervical cancer and oropharyngeal cancer.
Tessa will use the proceeds from this funding round to further advance its clinical pipeline and to bring new therapies, based on the company’s VST platform, into clinical trials.
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Source: Tessa Therapeutics; Photo: Shutterstock.
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