Nouscom Raises $135M Series D to Advance Off-the-Shelf Cancer Vaccine Trial

Basel-based Swiss biotech Nouscom raised 120 million euros ($135M) in a Series D financing round co-led by M Ventures and Revelation Partners to advance its NOUS-209 cancer-preventing vaccine candidate through a global, registration-enabling clinical trial. NOUS-209 is an off-the-shelf immunotherapy that uses two viral vectors to deliver 209 shared frameshift peptide neoantigens, training the immune system to attack cancerous and precancerous cells in carriers of Lynch syndrome before tumors develop. Lynch syndrome is estimated to affect nearly 1M people in the US, carrying a 50% to 80% lifetime risk of colorectal cancer and a 40% to 60% lifetime risk of endometrial cancer. In a Phase 1b/2 trial, all evaluable Lynch syndrome carriers who received the vaccine were free from advanced adenomas and colorectal cancer, based on one-year data from 43 patients and two-year data from 17 participants, with annual retreatment enhancing T-cell responses. Unlike Merck & Co. and Moderna, which tailor vaccines to each patient's tumor, Nouscom targets recurrent shared neoantigens across different individuals, backed by new investors Angelini Industries, the European Investment Bank, and Neva SGR alongside existing investors 5AM Ventures and Andera Partners.