NousCom receives $49M to trial off-the-shelf cancer vaccine

Cancer vaccine startup NousCom has raised €42 million ($49 million). The round equips a team last seen leading Okairos to a €250 million buyout by GlaxoSmithKline to take off-the-shelf neoantigen cancer vaccine NOUS-209 into the clinic.

Basel, Switzerland-based NousCom’s near-term prospects rest on programs based on Exovax. The Exovax platform uses single adenovirus vectors that can encode for 100 or more neoantigens to create vaccines that induce development and expansion of T-cell populations, including effector memory T cells.

NousCom’s first priority is to move NOUS-209 into phase 1/2 next year. NousCom is developing the vaccine as a way to prevent cancer in Lynch syndrome carriers and treat tumors characterized by microsatellite instability. [Read more]