Munich-based cancer specialist Tubulis receives €60m to advance its proprietary pipeline of uniquely assembled antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) towards clinical evaluation as well as introduce programs addressing a range of solid tumor indications.

Tubulis was spun off from the Leibniz Research Institute for Molecular Pharmacology (FMP) in Berlin and Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) Munich in 2019. A €10m Series A financing followed back in 2020. Now, further investors have joined the second round of financing. Andera Partners led the round, Evotec and Fund+ joined. Existing investors Bayern Kapital, Biomedpartners, Coparion, High-Tech Gründerfonds, Occident and Seventure Partners also participated.

Tubulis possesses unique technologies to produce novel and particularly stable antibody-drug compounds (ADCs). A wide variety of active ingredients can thus be linked by a fixed coupling (conjugate) with an antibody specific to the respective indication. This minimizes undesirable side effects in healthy tissue, for example, by preventing premature detachment of the active ingredient from the antibody. In addition, the company's proprietary technologies offer the potential to generate previously impossible combinations of proteins and active ingredients, allowing the therapeutic spectrum of this approach to be extended to other indications.

“With its unique toolkit of proprietary technologies and its pipeline of differentiated ADC candidates, Tubulis holds a compelling position in the ADC field,” stated Andera Partners’ Sofia Ioannidou, PhD. “We look forward to supporting this talented team in bringing innovative ADCs to patients and are confident that Tubulis has the potential to become a leader in the next era of ADC drug development.”