3T Biosciences wants to change the future of treatment for solid tumors and other immune-mediated diseases.
And it exited from stealth today backed by $40 million in series A financing led by Westlake Village BioPartners with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Proceeds from the financing will be used to help accelerate 3T Biosciences from a research-focused company to a clinical-stage company by bringing novel targets into clinical development.
As part of its launch, California-based 3T announced it has exclusively in-licensed from Stanford University a precise antibody-based peptide-HLA therapeutic discovery platform and development-stage MAGE-A3 T-cell receptor (TCR)-T assets to expand 3T’s therapeutic portfolio.
The company also announced the appointment of Stefan J. Scherer as president and chief executive officer, and Christopher J. DeRespino, as chief business officer.
“On behalf of the entire team at 3T Biosciences, we are thrilled to launch with support from this outstanding syndicate of blue-chip investors,” Scherer said.
“3T’s best-in-class 3T-TRACE discovery platform has the ability to transform the treatment of cancers and beyond. The combination of the TCR-mimetic discovery platform with the 3T-TRACE platform uniquely positions 3T to rapidly generate therapeutics targeting pHLA targets that are devoid of off-target cross-reactivity targeting. It is the ultimate one-two punch to enhance the discovery pipeline from novel target discovery to best-in-class pHLA targeting therapeutics.
“This financing will position us to rapidly build out toward clinical programs to gain direct proof that cancer can be targeted using 3T’s innovative approach. I look forward to working with our tremendous board of directors, world-renowned Scientific Advisory Board, and leadership team to advance our pipeline so that we can help patients as quickly as possible.”
Addressing challenges
3T Biosciences’ proprietary technology – 3T-TRACE (T-Cell Receptor Antigen and Cross-Reactivity Engine) – identifies the most prevalent and immunogenic targets in solid tumors by combining high-diversity target libraries with active machine learning. Starting with a productive response from patients, 3T can identify and leverage shared targets and therapeutically active TCRs and T-cell receptor mimetics (TCRms).
3T-TRACE addresses two major challenges in current immunotherapy development. First, it identifies novel shared TCR targets of productive immune responses against solid tumors and other diseases. Second, it screens TCRs and TCRms for specificity and off-target cross-reactivities, with the potential to create tumor-specific, safer therapies that can be delivered at higher doses.
By leveraging the power of the immune system to recognize, target, and destroy cancer cells, 3T Biosciences said its technology is advancing the development of next-generation therapies that have the potential to be safer, more effective, and even curative for difficult-to-treat cancers.
“We saw the need to develop novel technologies that synergize experimentation and computation using data-driven approaches to uncover how the immune system recognizes and responds to cancer,” Scherer said.
“Our machine learning allows us to identify targets that are able to bind and activate T-cell responses with high accuracy. By using evolutionarily adapted immune responses against cancer, we can discover the best immunogenic targets that can be generalized for multiple tumor indications and across patient populations.”
The 3T-TRACE platform expanded coverage and scale are applicable across all tumor types. Beyond cancer, 3T is looking toward opportunities across multiple therapeutic areas, including autoimmune diseases.