Montis Biosciences launched with €8,4 million seed financing and a novel approach to immune-oncology
Leuven, Belgium, Feb 20th 2020. Montis Biosciences announces its launch with €8,4 million in seed financing from an international investor syndicate to investigate interactions between perivascular macrophages and tumor vasculature. The company’s mission is to exploit these cellular interactions with therapeutics to drive and sustain immune reactions against solid tumors.
Montis was founded by Droia Ventures, VIB and KU Leuven based on the foundational science discovered by the labs of Peter Carmeliet (VIB-KU Leuven) and Massimiliano Mazzone (VIB-KU Leuven). For the seed financing, the founders were joined by new investors Polaris Partners, ALSA Ventures and Pfizer Ventures, the venture capital arm of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE).
Blood vessels regulate the influx of immune cells into tumors. They do so under direction of perivascular macrophages, which can stimulate blood vessels to attract immune cells and let them pass into the tumor, or can induce blood vessel dysfunction and create an immune-compromised environment or suppressive environment in the tumor. Montis’ proprietary insights into how these two classes of cells interact now allows for modulation of these interactions to ensure a strong influx of fresh immune cells into the tumor. The seed financing will allow Montis to prioritize among a set of targets and to validate its lead programs for further development towards clinical studies. Montis will also expand its unique screening and assay platform to identify and validate additional promising targets.
“It is becoming increasingly clear that endothelial cells in the tumor vasculature play a major role in immune reactions to cancer and that their interaction with immune cells shapes this response. Historical therapies targeting the tumor vasculature largely ignored this role and instead destroyed the vessels to starve the tumor,” says professor Peter Carmeliet. “Our research is showing that rather than destroying blood vessels, we can use them to herd the correct immune cells to the tumor and get much more potent and sustainable effects.”
"Our approach with single-cell RNA-sequence data finally allows us to investigate the communication between immune cells and the tumor vasculature,” adds professor Massimiliano Mazzone. “Montis is the step forward to translate this concept into therapeutic applications."
Montis’ Board of Directors will be composed of Executive Chairman and Droia Partner, Luc Dochez, and VIB Head New Ventures, Griet Vanpoucke, who will be joined by Ellie McGuire (Polaris Partners), Sohaib Mir (ALSA Ventures) and Rana Al-Hallaq (Pfizer Ventures).
“We’re very pleased to have been able to bring together the world-class science from the VIB-KU Leuven labs of Peter Carmeliet and Massimiliano Mazzone with an investor syndicate that is excellently positioned to ensure the long-term success of the company,” says Luc Dochez, Partner at Droia Ventures and Executive Chairman at Montis. “Montis has a unique approach to target solid tumors that should be able to really shift the paradigm on multiple indications.”
“We are excited to work with Droia Ventures in this oncology focused company co-creation effort,” comments Johan Cardoen, managing director of VIB. “Montis is a prime example of how scientific excellence complemented with an entrepreneurial mindset and hands-on early stage investors can result in a promising new venture.”
Contact
Luc Dochez (Montis Biosciences)
Tel.: +32 2 880 67 30
Mail: luc.dochez@droiagroup.com
Note to the editor
Credits
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Montis Biosciences
Montis Biosciences develops novel immune-oncology therapeutics targeting the intersection between vascular dysfunction and immune suppression to treat solid tumors. Based on the work of Profs. Peter Carmeliet and Massimiliano Mazzone, Montis created a unique target screening and assay platform to discover novel targets modulating interactions between tumor endothelial cells and perivascular macrophages. Montis is backed by leading life science investors Droia Ventures, Polaris Partners, ALSA Ventures and Pfizer Ventures. For more information, please see www.montisbiosciences.com.
Droia Ventures
Droia is a specialist venture capital investor, focussing on oncology therapeutics and dedicated to making an impact and save patient lives. Droia invests worldwide in early-stage drug development companies that apply novel science and innovative approaches to bring highly promising drug candidates to patients. Through its experienced team of scientists and drug developers, Droia supports promising young companies on scientific and development matters. For more information, please see www.droiagroup.com.
Polaris Partners
Polaris Partners has a 20-plus-year history of partnering with repeat entrepreneurs and world-class innovators who are improving the way we live and work. The multibillion-dollar firm manages specialty and diversified funds in healthcare and technology with investments across all stages. Polaris has offices in Boston, San Francisco, and New York. Learn more at polarispartners.com.
ALSA Ventures
ALSA Ventures is a life science venture capital investor, focused on early stage novel therapeutics. With a strong operations background in drug development, our team seeks to bring together outstanding entrepreneurs and world class academic researchers to help bring promising new treatments to market. We invest across a wide spectrum of therapeutic areas, targeting high unmet need with impactful outcomes for patients and society at large. For more information, please see www.alsaventures.com
VIB
VIB is a strategic research center in life sciences and biotech. The results of VIB’s top research are actively translated into added value for society. VIB unites the expertise of 86 research groups thematically organized into 8 research centers. VIB’s Innovation & Business team proactively translates new biological findings into new economic activities, such as starting up new companies and partnerships with the biotech and pharmaceutical industry. Since its foundation in 1996, VIB has created 23 start-up companies. VIB also engages actively in the public debate on biotechnology by developing and disseminating a wide range of science-based information about all aspects of biotechnology. VIB has a close partnership with five Flemish universities – Ghent University, KU Leuven, University of Antwerp, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Hasselt University. More information: www.vib.be.
KU Leuven
KU Leuven is a leading European university dedicated to research, education and service to society. It is a founding member of the League of European Research Universities (LERU) and has a strong European and international orientation. Its sizeable academic staff conducts basic and applied research in a comprehensive range of disciplines. University Hospitals Leuven, its network of research hospitals, provides high-quality healthcare and develops new therapeutic and diagnostic insights with an emphasis on translational research. The University welcomes more 50,000 students from over 140 countries.Its doctoral schools organise internationally oriented PhD programmes for over 4,500 doctoral students. More info: www.kuleuven.be/english.