Asgard Therapeutics awarded H2020 SMEi phase 1

Asgard Therapeutics awarded H2020 SMEi phase 1

Swedish start-up company Asgard Therapeutics has been awarded the H2020 SMEi phase 1 in order to further develop a direct cell reprogramming technology for cancer immunotherapy. 

Asgard Therapeutics was founded in 2018 as a spin-off from Lund University, targeting the urgent need for new cost-effective immunotherapies consistently effective in a broad range of patients.  

Through world-leading research at Lund University, the scientific founders of Asgard Therapeutics have developed a proprietary cell reprogramming technology. Based on this discovery, the team of Asgard Therapeutics is establishing a gene therapy – TrojanDC – that turns tumor cells into immune cells, triggering an antitumor immune response.

– Currently available immunotherapies are only effective in a limited number of patients due to tumor heterogeneity, and often lose their efficacy as the tumor develops evasion mechanisms. In addition, immunotherapies come with high price. This new gene therapy approach will be transformative, providing patients with an ‘off-the-shelf’ solution that is at the same time highly personalized against their specific tumor, says Cristiana Pires, co-founder and CEO of Asgard Therapeutics.

The SME Instrument supports new market-creating innovations, top class entrepreneurs and small companies with funding opportunities and acceleration services across Europe. Financial support from the SME Instrument, €50,000, will be used to further support TrojanDC development. Together with already obtained in-vivo proof- of-concept data, the SMEi P1 puts Asgard Therapeutics in an excellent position to rapidly progress the development of TrojanDC towards preclinical studies and later on clinical trials.

For more information: 

Cristiana Pires, co-founder and CEO Asgard Therapeutics, +46(0)731 566 072 or cristiana.pires@asgardthx.com

Asgard Therapeutics was founded in 2018 as a spin-off from Lund University aiming to advance cancer immunotherapies by developing a paradigm-shifting gene therapy – TrojanDC. Driven by the urgent need for new cost-effective immunotherapies consistently effective in a broad range of patients, Asgard is developing the world’s first cancer immunotherapy based on direct cell reprogramming, forcing cancer cells to become immunogenic and unleashing the immune system against cancer.

Learn more at asgardthx.com and follow us on Twitter @AsgardThx.