Here’s Tikva Allocell! They’re a Singapore-based biotech company focused on developing safe and affordable “off-the-shelf” T-cell therapies to target difficult-to-treat cancers. 

• Now, they’ve just raised an $8M Series A. 

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Investor check. Kantharos Capital led the round. 

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‍↪️ The ABCs of Tikva

Tikva develops engineered, allogeneic (donor-derived) cell therapies for adult and pediatric patients with solid tumors. 

• Their pipeline is built on the ALLO SerpinB9 EBVST platform (licensed exclusively from the Baylor College of Medicine) and enhanced through Tikva’s proprietary protein-engineering strategies.  

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✍️ Some more detail

Their lead solution, TAVST01, targets B7-H3-positive cancers, which include lung, breast, prostate, pancreatic, and pediatric cancers. 

• How it works. By leveraging donor-derived EBV-specific B7-H3 CAR-T cells enhanced with SerpinB9 (CAS), TAVST01 is engineered to overcome host rejection and persist long enough to attack solid tumors effectively. 

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🧐 What’s with the $$$?

With the fresh capital, they’ll be able to complete their Investigational New Drug (IND)-enabling activities and planned year-end IND submission for TAVST01.

• Once they receive regulatory clearance, Tikva also plans to initiate a Phase 1 clinical trial in patients with advanced B7-H3-positive cancer in Singapore and the US.