Press Release | FMP | 21-07-2020

FMP spin-off Tubulis acquires €10.7 million for the development of novel antibody drug conjugates (ADCs)

The young company Tubulis announced today the closure of a Series A funding round totaling €10.7 million to advance the development of a novel class of highly stable and efficient antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) for treating cancer and other serious diseases, and to promote the further growth of the company.

Company-Logo

Tubulis was founded as a spin-off of the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP) in Berlin and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) München in 2019.

Tubulis has proprietary unique technologies for producing novel and particularly stable antibody drug conjugates (ADCs). In the process, a wide range of drugs can be linked to an antibody specific to the relevant indication by way of stable coupling (conjugation). One positive aspect of this is that adverse side effects in healthy tissue can be minimized, since the drug is prevented from separating from the antibody prematurely. In addition, the company’s proprietary technologies offer the potential to generate previously impossible protein-drug combinations, enabling the therapeutic spectrum of this approach to be broadened to other indications.

“Our group, which helped develop the scientific basis for Tubulis’ innovative technology by advancing new chemical methods to generate stable ADCs, is very proud of the company’s tremendous development and achievement. Today’s Series A funding is further proof of this,” remarked Professor Dr. Christian Hackenberger, Head of Chemical Biology at the FMP and Leibniz-Humboldt Professor at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. The chemist looks forward to the years ahead and to continued cooperation with the start-up company. “One of the key factors of this success is the great team, which was able to build on the long-standing fruitful collaboration with colleagues from LMU headed by Prof. Dr. Heinrich Leonhardt. With this very successful funding round behind it, the company now has the perfect basis for continuing to revolutionize ADC therapy.”
Professor Dr. Volker Haucke, Director of the FMP, added: “Tubulis’ successful acquisition of funding is further proof of the FMP’s successful strategy to transfer results from basic research to biomedical application.”

The funding round was co-led by BioMedPartners and the High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), with the support of Seventure, Coparion, Bayern Kapital and Occident and significant contributions by private individuals and the founders themselves.
“The aim of Tubulis is to use our dual platform approach to generate uniquely matched and disease-specific ADCs that combine selective antibodies with effective drugs,” stated Dr. Dominik Schumacher, CEO and co-founder of Tubulis, who completed his doctoral thesis at the FMP in Professor Christian Hackenberger’s research group. “The funding committed by this experienced consortium is a validation of our technology, and reflects the latest renaissance of ADC development in our sector. These financial resources will enable us to continue validating our platforms and to transfer our first two selected ADC candidates to the hospital setting.”

About Tubulis
Tubulis generates uniquely matched protein-drug conjugates by combining proprietary novel technologies with disease-specific biology. Our goal is to expand the therapeutic potential of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) ushering in a new era and delivering better outcomes for patients. Employing the company’s proprietary ADC development approach, Tubulis will advance a variety of conjugates, unlimited by indication. For more information visit www.tubulis.com.

Prof. Dr. Christian Hackenberger
Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP)
Leibniz-Humboldt-Professur für Chemische Biologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Phone +49 30 94793-181
Email hackenbefmp-berlin.de
Web fmp-berlin.de/hackenbe

Tubulis GmbH
Dr. Dominik Schumacher, CEO
Butenandtstraße 1, 81377 München
Phone +49 89 218074233
Email dominik.schumachertubulis.com
Web tubulis.com

Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP)
Silke Oßwald
Phone +49 30 94793-104
Email osswaldfmp-berlin.de
Web www.leibniz-fmp.de