Neophore, a UK-based immuno-oncology treatment developer established by University of Cambridge’s biopharmaceutical spinout PhoreMost, closed a £15.2m ($21m) series B round yesterday led by Claris Ventures.

Astellas Venture Management, the corporate venturing arm of pharmaceutical firm Astellas, also contributed to the round, as did CRT Pioneer Fund, 2Invest and 3B Future Health Fund.

Neophore was spun out of PhoreMost in 2017 to commercialise research conducted by Alberto Bardelli and Giovanni Germano at University of Turin, and is working on drugs that target the DNA mismatch repair pathway to treat cancer.

Matthew Baker, chief executive of Neophore, said: “These drugs are designed to work in concert with existing immunotherapies to stimulate immunity directly at cancer’s core, effectively forcing cancer cells to reveal themselves to the patients’ immune system.

“We anticipate a huge patient benefit in the level and durability of anti-cancer responses in a wide range of indications.”

The series B funding will enable Neophore to advance its drug discovery pipeline. Pietro Puglisi from Claris Ventures, Heikki Lanckriet from 2Invest and Marianne Bjordal from 3B Future Health Fund will join Neophore’s board of directors.

Neophore previously obtained $3.9m in funding from CRT Pioneer Fund in 2017.

Neophore, a UK-based immuno-oncology treatment developer established by University of Cambridge’s biopharmaceutical spinout PhoreMost, closed a £15.2m ($21m) series B round yesterday led by venture capital firm Claris Ventures.

Astellas Venture Management, the corporate venturing arm of pharmaceutical firm Astellas, also contributed to the round, as did CRT Pioneer Fund, 2Invest and 3B Future Health Fund. It follows $3.9m in funding from CRT Pioneer Fund in 2017.

Spun off by PhoreMost in 2017 to commercialise research conducted by Alberto Bardelli and Giovanni Germano at University of Turin, Neophore is working on drugs that target the DNA mismatch repair pathway to treat cancer.

Matthew Baker, chief executive of Neophore, said: “These drugs are designed to work in concert with existing immunotherapies to stimulate immunity directly at cancer’s core, effectively forcing cancer cells to reveal themselves to the patients’ immune system.

“We anticipate a huge patient benefit in the level and durability of anti-cancer responses in a wide range of indications.”

The series B funding will enable Neophore to advance its drug discovery pipeline. Pietro Puglisi from Claris Ventures, Heikki Lanckriet from 2Invest and Marianne Bjordal from 3B Future Health Fund will join its board of directors.

The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.