Nouscom is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company based in Basel, Switzerland, developing next-generation off-the-shelf and personalized cancer immunotherapies. Its proprietary viral vector platform can encode large neoantigen payloads and has been clinically demonstrated to safely and potently engage the immune system. Lead programs include NOUS-209 (an off-the-shelf vaccine being evaluated in randomized Phase 2 trials with pembrolizumab for MSI solid tumors and a Phase 1b monotherapy study in Lynch Syndrome) and NOUS-PEV (a personalized cancer immunotherapy expected to enter randomized Phase 2 trials). The company has clinical collaborations and supply agreements with MSD for pembrolizumab and with the National Cancer Institute for Lynch Syndrome studies. Nouscom has also out-licensed VAC-85135, which is under evaluation in a Phase 1 trial sponsored by Janssen and Bristol Myers Squibb. The recently extended Series C financing will fund advancement of its wholly owned clinical pipeline toward multiple clinical proof-of-concept endpoints. NousCom develops neoantigen-based cancer vaccines via its Exovax platform, a viral vector–based genetic vaccine approach using proprietary prime/boost technology to encode large numbers of neoantigens. The company’s lead program, NOUS-209, is an off-the-shelf cancer vaccine planned for Phase I/II clinical studies in 2018 and is being developed both prophylactically for Lynch Syndrome carriers and therapeutically for microsatellite instability (MSI) tumors. A second program, NOUS-100-PV, is a personalized neoantigen vaccine expected to enter clinical studies in the second half of 2018. A third program, an oncolytic virus based on the Endovax platform, remains in discovery. NousCom says its vectors induce potent CD8 and CD4 responses and that it has access to a scalable GMP manufacturing facility to support clinical development and personalized vaccine delivery. The company was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, with operations in Rome, Italy. Nouscom, based in Basel, Switzerland and Rome, Italy, develops viral vectors, tumor‑selective oncolytic viruses and personalized cancer vaccines. Its pipeline includes two programs: Endovax, an antigenless oncolytic‑vaccine platform, and Exovax, a personalized vaccine encoding patient‑specific neoantigen strings. Endovax uses oncolytic viruses that infect and replicate only in cancer cells, causing immunogenic cell death to recruit and reactivate T cells in the tumor microenvironment. Exovax is based on viral vectors coding for strings of cancer neoantigens to induce and expand patient‑specific T cells. The company will use the €12M Series A to fund discovery and development activities for its personalized vaccine and tumor‑selective oncolytic virus programs. Leadership includes CEO and President Riccardo Cortese, M.D., Ph.D., and a founding scientific team including Alfredo Nicosia, Elisa Scarselli, Stefano Colloca, Antonella Folgori and Cinzia Traboni.

Total raised

$68M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Series C

Latest activity

Mar 2024