Decoy Biosystems Secures $6M Seed Funding to Advance Novel TLR Agonist-Based Cancer Immunotherapy

Recently, VCBeat (WeChat Official Account: vcbeat) learned from foreign media reports that Decoy Biosystems, a cancer immunotherapy company headquartered in San Diego, California, raised $6 million in its seed round. The round was led by Mountain Pacific Venture Fund, with participation from TY BIO Investment.

Decoy Biosystems is a biotechnology company dedicated to cancer immunotherapy for patients with unresectable or metastatic solid tumors and lymphomas, a population that accounts for approximately 90% of all cancer-related deaths. Currently, the company has developed a novel cancer immunotherapy based on multi-Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists.

Michael Newman, CEO of Decoy Biosystems, stated that he founded the company to revitalize some very old research approaches aimed at exploring the potential of using killed bacteria within the human body to stimulate the immune system to fight cancer. “Cancer immunotherapy is currently the hottest field in the world,” said Michael Newman. “However, people fail to realize that this therapy was invented in the 19th century.”

Upon the completion of this round of financing, the company plans to leverage the funds to advance its technologies for treating unresectable or metastatic solid tumors and lymphomas. Notably, Decoy Biosystems is collaborating with JLABS, the life sciences incubator of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, which will have a significantly positive impact on the company’s biotechnological innovation efforts.

Mountain Pacific Venture Fund is primarily active in California, United States, and is committed to providing financing opportunities for startups. The firm has a broad investment scope, covering early-stage, growth-stage, expansion-stage, and profitable-stage companies.

TY BIO Investment, headquartered in California, USA, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tongyong Networks, a company listed on the Korean KOSPI, and also operates as an angel investment firm.