PARIS — Jeito Capital is leading an oversubscribed $75 million Series C financing round in Adcendo ApS, a biopharma company focused on developing antibody-drug conjugates for cancer treatment.
The funding will support the advancement of three experimental therapies through key clinical milestones as the company targets cancers with significant unmet medical needs.
The round includes new investors Vida Ventures, BPI France and EIFO, alongside existing backers such as TCGX, RA Capital Management, TPG, Orbimed, Venrock, Surveyor, Logos Capital, Novo Holdings, Pontifax Venture Capital, Dawn Biopharma, HealthCap, Gilde Healthcare and Ysios Capital.
Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Copenhagen, with operations in Boston, Adcendo is developing first- and best-in-class antibody-drug conjugates, or ADCs. The company’s leadership team brings experience in drug development, operations and commercialization.
Adcendo is currently advancing three programs. ADCE-T02 targets Tissue Factor, a protein overexpressed in multiple solid tumors including head and neck, pancreatic, colorectal and lung cancers. ADCE-D01 targets uPARAP, which is associated with cancers such as soft tissue sarcomas. A third candidate, ADCE-B05, remains undisclosed and is being evaluated in preclinical studies for squamous cell tumors.
The new funding will help move these therapies through clinical development, including expansion studies for ADCE-T02, early-stage trials for ADCE-D01 in sarcoma and other cancers, and dose escalation studies for ADCE-B05.
Despite advances in ADC technology, many cancers still lack effective treatment options, with toxicity remaining a key challenge. Jeito Capital said its experience investing in oncology companies positions it to help accelerate Adcendo’s pipeline.
Ksenija Pavletic, General Partner and Chief Commercial Officer of Jeito Capital, will join Adcendo’s board as part of the investment.
“Adcendo stands out in the ADC field as having a noteworthy combination of bold innovation and strong clinical development strategy and execution,” Pavletic said. “With a very seasoned team of drug developers and biopharma leaders advancing their differentiated pipeline, we are excited to see the Company’s progress toward their mission of delivering next-generation cancer therapies to patients who need them most.”
Dr Rafaèle Tordjman, M.D., Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Jeito Capital, said, “Oncology remains one of the most critical areas of unmet medical need, and ADCs represent a transformative approach to delivering targeted therapies with improved efficacy and tolerability. Adcendo’s experienced leadership team, with a proven track record in ADC development, is advancing a truly differentiated pipeline with the potential to redefine treatment outcomes for patients with difficult-to-treat cancers. We are proud to lead this financing as we continue to deploy capital from our latest 1.2 billion dollars fund into some of Europe’s most ground-breaking biopharma companies.”
Michael Pehl, Chief Executive Officer of Adcendo, said, “This successful financing round, led by a distinguished group of life science investors, empowers us to continue advancing our pipeline of breakthrough ADCs for the treatment of underserved cancers. We are thrilled to see continued momentum of our first and best-in-class ADCs in clinic, and with the backing of this fundraising we will continue to progress ADCE-T02, ADCE-D01 and ADCE-B05 through upcoming data readouts.”
