invIOs raises €8.2 million in a Series A to finance pipeline progress in immuno-oncology

invIOs GmbH, a privately held biotechnology company developing novel therapies for cancer, announced that the company has raised €8.2 million in a Series A fundraising that includes strong participation from existing shareholders and Ligand Pharmaceuticals.

Ligand recently acquired APEIRON, the former parent company of invIOs. This funding secures ongoing pipeline progress and achievement of clinical and preclinical milestones through 2025.

“We are pleased to have raised these funds, which enables us to move our programs forward as planned. I am particularly grateful for the strong support of existing shareholders, as well as the commitment of our new shareholder, Ligand Pharmaceuticals,” – said Peter Llewellyn-Davies, CEO and CFO of invIOs.

invIOs also provided an update on recent progress with its two lead anti-cancer programs, INV441 and INV501. The company has collaborations in glioblastoma with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) for both programs.

The collaborations are being led by David Reardon, Clinical Director, Center for Neuro-Oncology at the DFCI and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Reardon is a world-renowned expert in brain cancer, particularly glioblastoma research and treatment.

“We are thrilled with the progress of our collaboration with the DFCI for both our oral small molecule candidate, INV501, and now also our cell therapy candidate, INV441.

With these two immune-oncological approaches, we are developing cancer therapies that have the potential to address major unmet needs in treating deadly tumors, and we are excited to continue our work to ultimately improve and save patients’ lives,” – said Romana Gugenberger, Chief Medical and Scientific Officer of invIOs.

INV501 first-in-class orally available small molecule. In July 2024, invIOs announced the selection of a lead candidate from its family of compounds. Preclinical testing has shown compelling efficacy and safety results with this candidate in both breast cancer and melanoma models, as well as the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and initiate anti-tumoral immune reactions.

IND-enabling toxicology studies are underway, and manufacturing under GMP conditions is in preparation. Target validation work is planned to be completed and details of the mechanism of action provided in Q1 2025.

INV441 cell therapy. INV441 uses tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) that are modified via siRNA inhibiting the immune checkpoint Cbl-b and administered directly to the tumor. This approach has demonstrated strong preclinical proof of concept in murine glioma models.

In 2024, invIOs filed important IP around this program. invIOs recently held a pre-IND (Investigational New Drug) meeting with the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA). In the meeting, the FDA provided helpful input for the planned Phase 1 study with INV441 which is planned to be conducted by the DFCI and is expected to initiate in mid-2025.

Meet invIOs management at LSX Inv€$tival Showcase in London on November 18th.

Peter Llewellyn-Davies, CEO & CFO, and Romana Gugenberger, Chief Medical and Scientific Officer, will give a company presentation and host 1X1 meetings at this important industry event. To schedule a meeting, please use the conference partnering system or contact: [email protected]

About invIOs

invIOs is a privately held biotech company based in Vienna, Austria, focusing on the discovery and development of novel therapies for cancer. The invIOs team leverages deep expertise in immune system activation to develop individualized and targeted approaches against solid tumors. invIOs is advancing a pipeline of programs encompassing small molecule and cell therapy approaches.

INV501 is a novel small molecule candidate that can selectively enhance T cell mediated anti-tumor immune responses. INV501 is currently in preclinical testing and has demonstrated preclinical proof of concept with strong data in multiple solid tumor indications after oral administration. A lead candidate compound for clinical development has been selected, and IND-enabling studies are ongoing.

EPiC, invIOs’ proprietary cell therapy platform, enables rapid treatment of patients in an out-patient setting. EPiC is a technology platform that allows the creation of personalized cell therapies based on localized processing of a patient’s fresh immune cells. Proof of concept has been demonstrated via initial clinical results from the first asset from the EPiC platform, APN401. INV441, also derived from EPiC, is being developed for the treatment of glioblastoma and is in preclinical testing. invIOs has a collaboration with the DFCI for this program. Another EPiC program, INV451, is a novel CAR-T cell approach against lung cancer being developed with the Medical University of Innsbruck.

Other posts featuring invIOs GmbH.