Nouscom Raises $135 Million to Advance Cancer-Prevention Immunotherapy for Lynch Syndrome

Rare Daily Staff

Nouscom raised about $135 million (€120 million) to advance an experimental immunotherapy designed to stop cancer from developing in people with Lynch syndrome, an inherited condition that increases the risk of colorectal, uterine and other cancers.

The series D financing will support a global clinical trial intended to provide evidence for potential regulatory approval of NOUS-209, the company’s lead drug candidate. M Ventures and Revelation Partners co-led the oversubscribed round. New investors included Angelini Industries, the European Investment Bank and Neva SGR. All existing investors also participated.

Nouscom said the proceeds will fund NOUS-209 through a single global, registration-enabling trial in people with Lynch syndrome.

Lynch syndrome results from inherited mutations in genes that help repair errors in DNA. Those errors can accumulate and lead to cancer.

NOUS-209 is designed to train the immune system to recognize abnormal proteins that arise when this DNA-repair process fails. The treatment uses two viral delivery systems to introduce 209 shared cancer-associated targets, known as neoantigens, with the goal of prompting immune cells to attack cancerous and precancerous cells.

Unlike a personalized cancer vaccine made for an individual patient, NOUS-209 is an off-the-shelf product designed for use across eligible patients. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted NOUS-209 Fast Track designation.

Nouscom said participants in a phase 1b/2 study developed broad and lasting responses from T cells, immune cells that can recognize and attack abnormal cells. Those responses increased further after annual repeat treatment.

The company plans to present the findings on October 25 at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress in Madrid. According to Nouscom, none of the evaluable participants had advanced adenomas—precancerous growths—or colorectal cancer detected by colonoscopy at the one- and two-year assessments. Those findings involved 43 participants at one year and 17 at two years.

Nouscom is also studying NOUS-209 with pembrolizumab in phase 2 trials for patients who already have advanced colorectal cancers with certain DNA-repair defects. Those treatment studies are separate from the company’s effort to prevent cancer in people with Lynch syndrome.