Tessellate BIO, a biotechnology company whose vision is to become a global leader in precision medicines for cancer treatment that turn cancer patients into cancer survivors, is making its first public announcement today.

The company was founded by Professor Hilda Pickett (Children’s Medical Research Institute, Sydney, Australia) and Professor Claus Azzalin (Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Lisbon, Portugal). Their world-leading research was backed by two globally respected European venture capital firms, BioGeneration Ventures (BGV) and Forbion, responsible for an initial €8m in seed funding.

Tessellate BIO is focused on a promising area for identifying new cancer treatments: synthetic lethality (SL). Cancer cells are adept at surviving despite many genetic changes, but a synthetic lethal therapy is specifically designed to target a vulnerability created by a genetic change in a crucial cellular pathway, which then makes it very difficult for the cell to survive. PARP inhibitors are showing promise as cancer treatments based on this approach. These drugs target DNA repair pathways and kill cancer cells that already have a defective gene that makes them homologous recombination deficient (HRD).

However, there remains a vast and largely unexplored space in synthetic lethality that Tessellate is pioneering.

Its lead program is focused on DNA damage response and targets cancers that depend on Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT).

ALT was discovered by scientists at Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) in 1995 and has been shown to be a critical mechanism for maintaining the length of telomeres. Telomere length maintenance is essential for the unlimited replicative potential of tumor cells and is a key hallmark of cancer. Many cancers with high unmet medical need and poor prognosis rely on ALT to keep growing, such as several types of sarcomas (with up to 60% being ALT dependent) and substantial fractions of large solid tumors. Medicines targeting ALT have the potential to significantly improve survival for those patients.

The lead program targets the FANCM Complex involved in ALT and is based on the discoveries of Tessellate BIO co-founders Profs Pickett and Azzalin.

“It is fantastic to see the research discoveries made in my lab progress towards the clinic,” said Prof Pickett. “By committing to strong scientific foundations, Tessellate BIO is focused on finding new treatments for cancers that currently have limited treatment options.”

The company’s strategy is to drive small molecule drug discovery to identify new cancer treatments, as well as the parallel development of associated companion diagnostics, including a potentially best-in-class companion diagnostic to detect ALT positive cancers for identification of treatment-eligible patients.

Tessellate BIO has attracted an impressive leadership team of seasoned entrepreneurs and industry-experienced drug hunters with proven track records, including: CEO, Andree Blaukat, previously SVP and head of Oncology Research at Merck KGaA; CSO Jürgen Moll, previously Head of Molecular Oncology Unit at Sanofi; and serial entrepreneur Andrew Lightfoot, as COO who initially established the company. In addition, Eliot Forster, most recently former CEO of NASDAQ-listed F-STAR, has joined as chair of the board of directors.

Tessellate BIO’s scientific strategy will be supported by a world class Scientific Advisory Board that is chaired by Professor Roger Reddel, AO, Director of Children's Medical Research Institute (CMRI).

Prof Reddel said, “It’s very exciting that Tessellate Bio is enabling its founding scientists, Hilda Pickett and Claus Azzalin, to realise their ambition of developing novel cancer treatments based on their discoveries about fundamental molecular mechanisms that enable the relentless growth of cancers. These new therapeutics are expected to be especially useful for cancers that are currently very difficult to treat.”

Andree Blaukat, CEO, said, “Synthetic lethality is a proven but only partly explored field. Moving beyond HRD would potentially address a huge range of cancer types with highly tumor targeted medicines – a new frontier in precision oncology”.

Founding investor, board director and Partner at BGV, Daniela Couto said, “Tessellate BIO’s approach offers a clear opportunity to impact patients and build a significant company. Its next generation synthetic lethal approach is exemplified in its lead program – world-class science, a clear path of development, and a proprietary companion diagnostic. The company’s strategy is to identify and bring in groundbreaking SL discoveries and build an in-house capability to execute on these opportunities.”

Board director and General Partner at Forbion, Rogier Rooswinkel, added, “We are delighted to join our partners at BGV to build out a company from the ground up to become leaders in precision oncology, exploiting emerging scientific discoveries to develop more effective treatments for patients. Building a company needs the right scientific and business leadership, and we feel we have built those foundations at Tessellate BIO with a world class team and advisors”.

Eliot Forster, independent director and Chairman of the Board, said, “I have been hugely impressed by the ambition at Tesselate BIO, by the team and by the progress made so far in delivering on that ambition. Expanding the range of synthetic lethality is an enormous opportunity, and I look forward to working with the team to make an impact on patient care – turning cancer patients into cancer survivors.”

Tessellate BIO is headquartered in Amsterdam and is growing its main R&D operations in the UK with laboratories at the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst (SBC), an entrepreneurial hub for life science located between London and Cambridge, UK.

The company plans to raise additional financing in the course of 2024, including commitment from existing investors BGV and Forbion.