ViferaXS Raises Up to €12M to Take Peptide Immunotherapy CLLTAXS01 Into Phase II in CLL
核心洞察
ViferaXS (搜索) closed a Series A round of up to €12 million, including grant funding, led by Germany's SPRIND (搜索) and health technology company Huma.
Proceeds will fund a randomized Phase II trial of CLLTAXS01 (搜索) in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (搜索) and support ongoing Phase I programs in AML and fibrolamellar carcinoma (搜索).
A prior Phase I study published in The Lancet Haematology reported T-cell responses in 19 of 20 patients who received the peptide treatment alongside a BTK inhibitor.
ViferaXS (搜索), a clinical-stage biotechnology company spun out of Eberhard Karls University Tübingen (搜索) in Germany, has closed a Series A financing round of up to €12 million, including grant funding, to advance its lead peptide-based cancer immunotherapy into a randomized Phase II trial in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (搜索) (CLL).
The round was led by SPRIND (搜索), the German Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovation, and Huma, with participation from private investors. ViferaXS (搜索) did not disclose how much of the €12 million is equity versus grant funding. Huma will support the company through both its investment and its clinical trial technology.
What the financing funds
The proceeds will fund the Phase II clinical trial of CLLTAXS01 (搜索) in CLL and support the company's broader pipeline. In parallel, the financing backs ongoing Phase I programs in acute myeloid leukemia (搜索) (AML) and fibrolamellar carcinoma (搜索) (FLC). The round also allows ViferaXS (搜索) to grow its team and advance preclinical work in further indications.
"We are encouraged by the early clinical data of CLLTAXS01 (搜索), and this financing lets us move that signal into a randomized Phase II study in CLL," said Sezai Taskin, Chief Executive Officer of ViferaXS (搜索). "We also expect to share Phase I data from our AML and FLC programs soon, so the field can see how a peptide-based cancer immunotherapy approach can potentially transform cancer care for patients."
Phase I immune response data
The Phase II move follows a Phase 1 study published in The Lancet Haematology in which 19 of 20 patients developed T-cell responses after receiving the peptide treatment alongside a BTK inhibitor. That study was designed to assess immune responses and safety rather than to establish whether the treatment improves patient outcomes. The randomized Phase II trial is intended to test whether the immune response seen in the small Phase 1 study translates into clinical benefit.
Platform and pipeline
ViferaXS (搜索) develops cancer immunotherapies for hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. Its core platform is a proprietary T Cell Activator technology designed to activate cytotoxic T cells (搜索) against naturally presented tumor antigens. The clinical pipeline spans three oncology indications: AML, CLL and FLC.
Investor rationale
SPRIND (搜索), founded in 2019 and owned by the Federal Republic of Germany, funds high-ambition projects for which private-sector funding alone is often insufficient, with the aim of keeping the value of those innovations in Germany and Europe.
"SPRIND (搜索) believes in challenging the status quo by backing change makers. ViferaXS (搜索)' peptide-based cancer immunotherapy approach, and its move into Phase II in CLL, is the kind of clinically grounded, high-ambition work we seek to accelerate," said Patrick Rose, PhD, Innovation Manager at SPRIND.
Dan Vahdat, Founder and CEO of Huma, said the company is "building the operating system for clinical trials, bringing data, intelligence and execution into one platform," and that Huma is backing ViferaXS (搜索) through both investment and technology.