Belgium-based immunotherapy developer iTeos Therapeutics, spun out from Université catholique de Louvain (UCL) and Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, raised €64m ($74m) in series B funding yesterday.
The oversubscribed round featured university venture fund Vives Louvain Technology Fund, managed by UCL’s tech transfer office Sopartec, and was led by private equity firm MPM Capital.
6 Dimensions Capital, an investment firm formed by pharmaceutical firm WuXi AppTec and VC firm Frontline BioVentures, also contributed to the round, as did Walloon government-backed investment firm SRIW and Belgian state-owned investment company SFPI-FPIM.
HBM Partners, Curative Ventures and Fund+ filled out the round.
Founded in 2011, iTeos Therapeutics is working on drugs that defeat the immunosuppression employed by tumours, which has thus far enabled cancer to evade immune system responses.
The spinout is based on research undertaken at UCL’s Duve Institute and non-profit research organisation Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, which operates a branch in Duve Institute. Ludwig’s network also includes locations in the US, Switzerland, Australia and the UK.
The series B funding will allow iTeos to advance several programs towards the clinic and to expand into the US with offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Vives Louvain Technology Fund previously supported a $4m series A round in 2012 alongside Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Hunza Ventures and Life Sciences Research Partners.
Philippe Durieux, chief executive of Vives Louvain Technology Fund, said: “This round B funding event is among the biggest in Europe for a biopharmaceutical company. We have chosen to participate in this new round of funding because the product portfolio is promising and will potentially really cure the cancer.”
