MIT’s cancer and infectious disease therapy spinout has added $40m to a round that will support the progression of its lead asset into the clinic.

Elicio Therapeutics, a US-based immuno-oncology therapy spinout of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has increased its series B round to $73m. The company raised $33m for the first close of the round in October 2019 but has not confirmed the identity of any of the participants, though it said the latest funding came from an international base consisting of multiple strategic and institutional investors. Elicio is developing immunotherapies targeting the lymph node, a part of the human body involved in immune system response, in order to treat cancers and infectious diseases. The technology utilises amphiphile technology, which enables the targeted delivery of Elicio’s immunogens and cell-therapy activators. The proceeds from the round will enable the company to advance its lead product candidate, a prospective therapeutic cancer vaccine called ELI-002, into clinical trials. Elicio’s technology is based on research conducted by Darrell Irvine, professor of materials science and engineering and biological engineering at MIT. It had previously operated as Vedantra Pharmaceuticals and relaunched as Elicio in March 2019 with $30m from undisclosed investors. The company secured an amount of series A funding indicated by a regulatory filing to be $3.3m, from Access BridgeGap Ventures, in 2012. It received $750,000 of debt and equity financing from an unnamed backer in 2016, according to a separate filing. The 2016 financing preceded a total of $17.5m in debt financing and $25.8m in equity and convertible note financing over the course of 2018, according to securities filings. Elicio had previously named Clal Biotechnology Industries, a subsidiary of conglomerate Access Industries, and Efung Capital as existing investors, and identified Livzon as a backer at the time of the first series B close. Thynk Capital lists Elicio, under the name Vedantra, as a portfolio company on its website. – A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global Corporate Venturing.

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