Anocca AB, a Södertälje, Sweden-based developer of cancer cell therapies, raised SEK 400m (approx. USD36.58M) in equity financing.
The round was led by AMF and Mellby Gård, with participation from Michano, Swedbank Robur, Ramsbury, Nidoco and several family offices and private investors.
The company intends to use the funds to further develop its unique process that enables discovery and manufacture of cell therapies for cancer on an industrial scale, and to progress its first products into clinical trials. “In recent years, we have made great progress in automating our research platform. In addition, our large-scale and precise analytical methods have allowed us to generate additional data that strengthens the first products that will enter clinical trials. The capital injection will fund the continued expansion of Anocca’s research, development, and manufacturing capabilities as well as the start of a first clinical trial which is planned to be initiated in 2024,” says
Led by Reagan Jarvis, CEO, Anocca uses proprietary analytical methods to identify and produce a kind of immune cell, T-cells, that have the ability fight a specific tumour. The company aims to be the first developer that on an industrial scale can identify suitable targets on tumour cells and generate matching T-cell receptors (TCRs), a type of receptor that controls the activity of the immune system’s T-cells. Each active TCR identified by Anocca can be further developed into a highly specialised cancer treatment, or a “TCR-T” therapy.
The company was founded in 2014 and currently has 100 employees. Its operations include both research and manufacturing and are located at former AstraZeneca facilities in Södertälje. In recent years, Anocca has focused on automating and expanding its platform to identify the right targets on tumour cells and matching TCRs, while preparing for regulatory approval of the manufacturing facility. Including the current capital raise, the company has received a total of SEK 1.3 billion in venture capital. In addition, in December 2022, Anocca was granted a venture debt facility from the European Investment Bank (EIB) of EUR 25M.
FinSMEs
31/05/2023