Seed13 July 2020

Spirea secures seed investment from Meltwind and Start Codon to advance cancer treatments.

The seed round was led by Meltwind and Start Codon to accelerate in vivo proof-of-concept studies.

£0Seed

Spirea is a University of Cambridge spin-out developing an antibody-drug conjugate platform to improve cancer treatments. The firm aims to deliver higher drug payloads to tumour cells with greater efficacy and tolerability.

Spirea has closed a seed funding round led by Meltwind and Start Codon to advance its antibody-drug conjugate therapeutics. The financing will support in vivo proof-of-concept studies scheduled for completion by the end of 2020. The company has previously attracted backing from Innovate UK, IP Group and Cambridge Enterprise.

Antibody-drug conjugates combine cytotoxic payloads with targeted antibodies, though many existing treatments face clinical and manufacturing constraints. Spirea aims to overcome these limitations with a technology that offers high drug-to-antibody ratios and stability. The firm is also participating in the Start Codon incubator programme.

From the founder

"Incorporation of our technology into ADC products will accelerate and energise the important transition away from the 'one size fits all' approach currently being pursued in ADC development, resulting in novel products with a competitive and differentiated profile. The platform has the power to unlock the development of a new generation of powerful and well-tolerated drugs, which have been so far inaccessible to many cancer patients."

Myriam Ouberai

CEO at Spirea

Investor perspective

"We are very excited to be working closely with Spirea to support their start-up journey. The company has already demonstrated promising in vitro results and we look forward to seeing the technology develop further."