Tessa Therapeutics Shuts Down Despite $126M Series A and Promising CD30-Targeted CAR-T Pipeline

Recently, according to reports by multiple foreign media outlets, Tessa Therapeutics, a company dedicated to developing the next generation of cancer cell therapies, has announced its dissolution and officially shut down on June 30. The company stated that the reason for this outcome was the difficult market conditions, which prevented it from raising additional funds or finding a buyer. The company’s official website is currently inaccessible and shows as under maintenance.

A spokesperson confirmed the company's closure in an email to Endpoints.

Tessa, headquartered in Singapore, garnered widespread attention in June 2022 after announcing the completion of a US$126 million Series A financing round. With the success of this funding round, Tessa was also selected.

Tessa's main projects are the autologous CAR-T therapy TT11 and allogeneic CAR-T therapy TT11X, both targeting CD30. Early data from the Phase II CHARIOT trial (NCT04268706) of TT11 showed a complete response rate (CR) of 57.1% and an objective response rate (ORR) of 71.4% in patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma. On clinicaltrials.gov, the status of this Phase II trial has been updated to "Active, not recruiting."

Last year, Tessa also launched the Phase Ib CHARIOT trial (NCT05352828) of TT11 in combination with nivolumab for the treatment of relapsed/refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). The current status of this trial is also "Active, not recruiting."

Notably, TT11 has previously received RMAT designation from the FDA and PRIME designation from the EMA.

TT11X: An off-the-shelf cell therapy targeting CD30 developed based on Epstein-Barr Virus Specific T Cells (EBVST), currently in Phase I clinical trial (NCT04288726). The last update for this trial on clinicaltrials.gov was March 9 this year, with the status "Recruiting."

On the management level, after several CEO changes, Tessa brought in a senior executive from Takeda last autumn to take the helm. Before joining Tessa as CEO and President in October of last year, Thomas Willemsen served as Senior Vice President of Takeda's Asia-Pacific region. Willemsen has brought over 25 years of industry experience to Tessa, having held various leadership roles at GSK and Merck prior to joining Takeda. From the current outcome, Willemsen’s arrival failed to help Tessa weather the storm.

References:

[1]https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/tessa-therapeutics-dissolves-after-raising-more-200m

[2]https://endpts.com/singapore-cancer-cell-therapy-startup-tessa-therapeutics-to-shut-down/

[3]https://www.biospace.com/article/releases/tessa-therapeutics-doses-first-patient-in-phase-1b-clinical-trial-investigating-tt11-in-combination-with-nivolumab-for-the-treatment-of-relapsed-refractory-classical-hodgkin-lymphoma-chl-/

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