Tikva Allocell Closes $8M Series A to Advance Off-the-Shelf CAR-T for Solid Tumors
核心洞察
Tikva Allocell (搜索) secured $8 million in Series A financing led by Kantharos Capital (搜索) to advance its lead allogeneic CAR-T candidate TAVST01 (搜索).
The funding will support IND-enabling activities and a planned year-end 2026 IND submission for TAVST01 (搜索) targeting B7-H3 (搜索)-positive solid tumors.
TAVST01 (搜索) is built on the ALLO SerpinB9 EBVST platform using EBV-specific T cells engineered to resist immune rejection and minimize graft-versus-host disease.
Singapore-based biotechnology company Tikva Allocell (搜索) Pte. Ltd. announced the closing of an $8 million Series A financing round led by Kantharos Capital (搜索) on July 22, 2026. The funding will propel IND-enabling activities and a planned year-end 2026 Investigational New Drug (IND) submission for TAVST01 (搜索), the company's lead off-the-shelf CAR-T candidate targeting B7-H3 (搜索)-positive solid tumors.
"Cell therapy has transformed the treatment of blood cancers but has repeatedly stalled at the solid-tumor door — the donor cells either fail to persist or are eliminated by the patient's immune system before they can act," said Dr. Ivan Horak, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Tikva Allocell (搜索). "We started from a different place: a virus-fighting T cell the body naturally sustains, armed to seek out B7-H3 (搜索) and engineered to withstand the rejection that defeats most donor-derived approaches, with minimal gene editing."
Platform and Mechanism of Action
Tikva's therapies are built on the ALLO SerpinB9 EBVST platform, an allogeneic, virus-specific T-cell technology licensed exclusively from Baylor College of Medicine and further enhanced through Tikva's proprietary protein-engineering strategies. The platform's scientific foundation is rooted in decades of research at Baylor College of Medicine by Dr. Malcolm Brenner, Dr. Cliona Rooney, and Dr. Helen Heslop — leaders in virus-specific T-cell biology — who co-founded Tikva with CEO Dr. Ivan Horak and serve as scientific advisors.
TAVST01 (搜索) targets B7-H3 (搜索), a protein expressed across a broad range of difficult-to-treat solid tumors, including lung, breast, prostate, pancreatic, and pediatric cancers. Unlike conventional donor-derived cell therapies, which a patient's immune system often clears before they can exert therapeutic effect, TAVST01 is built from Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-specific T cells — immune cells the body naturally sustains. These cells are equipped with a B7-H3-targeting receptor and an optimized form of SerpinB9, a natural inhibitor of granzyme B, the enzyme immune cells use to kill their targets.
Because a patient's immune system would normally attack donor cells using granzyme B, the SerpinB9 "armor" enables Tikva's cells to resist rejection and remain active. At the same time, the approach minimizes graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) with only minimal gene editing. The preclinical profile of TAVST01 (搜索) may support lymphodepletion-free administration, repeat dosing, and combination strategies.
Clinical Development Plans
Subject to regulatory clearance, Tikva plans to initiate a Phase 1 clinical trial in patients with advanced B7-H3 (搜索)-positive cancer at sites in Singapore and the United States. The company's pipeline is designed for both adult and pediatric patients with solid tumors.
Investor Perspective
"Our investment reflects strong conviction in both Tikva's science and its leadership team," said Terence Tan, Managing Partner at Kantharos Capital (搜索). "Tikva is addressing fundamental challenges that have constrained allogeneic cell therapies, and we believe its ALLO SerpinB9 EBVST platform can extend the reach of cell therapy to solid-tumor patients who today have limited options. We look forward to supporting the company toward IND submission and clinical evaluation."
Kantharos Capital (搜索) is a boutique private equity firm founded by a family office with more than three decades of venture investing experience across Silicon Valley, China, and Singapore, pairing institutional discipline with the patience and long-term perspective of family capital.