Scottish company selected for EU funding for next-generation cancer therapies

Scottish biotechnology company, TC BioPharm (TCB), has been selected to receive a €4 million grant from the European Union’s (EU’s) research and innovation programme, Horizon 2020.

The money will be used to further develop the company’s gamma-delta T (GDT) cell therapy for the treatment of multiple tumour types. The first-generation of TCB’s cell product is an ‘autologous’ cell therapy formulated to treat patients with various tumours including malignant melanoma, kidney and lung cancer. These forms of therapies use the patient’s own cells to treat tumours which is a costly and logistically complex approach.

Using the Horizon 2020 grant, TCB will be able to develop a next-generation ‘allogenic’ approach, which will enable the company to manufacture treatments from existing donor cells from a bio-bank.

TCB’s chief operating officer, Angela Scott, said: “We are thrilled that Horizon 2020 funding has been awarded, allowing us to treat large numbers of cancer patients across the EU and in North America.”

“I am excited at the prospect of combining allogeneic GDT cell therapy with our existing CAR platform; this will allow us to develop the next generation of safe, cost-effective immunotherapy for cancer,” added chief business officer, Dr Artin Moussavi.

“With Horizon 2020 grant funding we remain steadfastly committed to working alongside our European clinical colleagues; we share a single goal of improving cancer patient health and quality of life across EU borders,” concluded TCB’s chief executive, Dr Michael Leek. “I look forward to developing our novel allogeneic GDT cell therapies with clinical partners at trial sites in Prague, Madrid, Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels.”