Mai-Britt Zocca
CEO
IO Biotech
IO Biotech is developing T-win® cancer vaccines that utilize a dual-action mechanism to target and eliminate both tumor cells and immune-suppressive cells within the tumor microenvironment. This approach aims to enhance anti-tumor activity and improve treatment outcomes for patients with melanoma and other tumor types.
- Biotechnology
Updated 11 months ago
Funding
Raised to date
$132.5MRaised to date based on public sources. This may differ from the amount the company actually raised and is based only on what is publicly available on the internet.
across 2 rounds
APACEI+12$57.5M · Debt
Announced Dec 2024
Disclosed cumulative: $132.5M
2/2
RoundDateAmountValuationInvestors
Founders
Product
Problem
Current cancer treatments often fail to eliminate both tumor cells and immune-suppressive cells within the tumor microenvironment (TME), leading to suboptimal anti-tumor responses and limited efficacy, especially in melanoma and other solid tumors. Existing immunotherapies may also induce systemic toxicity, hindering their broad application and long-term effectiveness.
Solution
IO Biotech is developing off-the-shelf, dual-action therapeutic cancer vaccines, called T-win vaccines, designed to modulate the tumor microenvironment (TME) and improve outcomes for people with cancer. The T-win technology employs a dual mechanism of action to kill both tumor cells and immune-suppressive cells in the TME. This is achieved by stimulating the activation and expansion of T cells against IDO1+ and/or PD-L1+ cells, resulting in a more pro-inflammatory environment and enhanced anti-tumor activity via unleashing the tumor killing by effector T cells. The goal is to establish T-win as the backbone of combination therapy for people with cancer, optimizing treatment response without adding systemic toxicity, and amplifying treatment effects across a spectrum of tumor types.
Target Audience
The primary target audience includes clinical investigators and medical oncologists focused on developing novel cancer immunotherapies, as well as pharmaceutical companies seeking to enhance the efficacy and safety of their existing IO treatments.
Features
- Off-the-shelf, readily available therapeutic cancer vaccines
- Dual-action mechanism targeting both tumor cells and immune-suppressive cells
- Modulation of the tumor microenvironment to create a more pro-inflammatory state
- Stimulation of T cell activation and expansion against IDO1+ and/or PD-L1+ cells
- Designed to enhance anti-tumor activity by unleashing tumor killing by effector T cells
- Potential for combination therapy with other immuno-oncology (IO) agents
- Demonstrated strong clinical activity in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial, including an 80% objective response rate in combination with an approved anti-PD-1 therapy in patients with advanced melanoma