An Oxford-based biotech company developing “cutting-edge” cancer treatments has been backed by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and research group the Francis Crick Institute. 

Enara Bio on Thursday announced a $32.5m (£24.7m) Series B funding round. 

With more than three million estimated cancer patients in the UK and around 167,000 deaths annually, according to Macmillan Cancer Support, the search for novel treatments continues to be a major scientific priority. 

Founded in 2016, Enara Bio claims it has made a major breakthrough with the development of its antigen discovery platform, attracting interest from the major new investors. 

The group’s latest funding round was led by the venture capital arm of Pfizer, alongside M Ventures. 

“Despite major breakthroughs in cancer immunotherapy over the last decade, only a minority of patients with solid tumors receive durable benefit from existing treatments,” said Rana Al-Hallaq, Ph.D., a partner at Pfizer Ventures.  

“Dark Antigens may unlock the potential of immunotherapy for many additional patients with solid tumors, and we are pleased to support Enara’s development of this cutting-edge platform to discover and validate these previously untapped targets.” 

Additional funding came from the Francis Crick Institute and existing investors RA Capital, Samsara BioCapital and SV Health Investors. Enara Bio previously raised $17.5m in 2019 for its Series A round. 

Enara Bio develops immunotherapies targeting broad populations of cancer patients. The company’s EDAPT platform is used to discover cancer antigens from what it describes as “genomic dark matter”. 

The group licenses its platform to external firms, notably the major German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, which in 2023 extended its partnership with Enara Bio that started three years prior. 

“The fundraise we are announcing today reflects the quality of our science and further underlines not only the groundbreaking potential of Dark Antigens, but also our internal pipeline of first-in-class immunotherapies,” said Enara Bio CEO Kevin Pojasek. 

Pojasek previously worked as chief strategy and business officer for the Nasdaq-listed biotech group Immunocore. He is also a venture partner at Enara Bio backer SV Health Investors. In 2020 he co-founded the US-based cancer treatment firm Catamaran Bio. 

In 2023 Enara Bio pulled in £1m in pre-tax profits in a massive swing from the £14m loss reported in the company accounts the year before. Turnover more than tripled in 2023, reaching £17.4m. 

The company was also able to secure significant tax benefits off the back of its £8.6m research and development spend for the year.