Tikva Allocell Lands $8M to Arm Virus-Fighting Cells Against Solid Tumors

SINGAPORE – July 22, 2026 – Biotechnology firm Tikva Allocell has secured $8 million in a Series A financing round to advance a novel cancer treatment that repurposes the body’s own viral memory to fight solid tumors. The funding, led by the boutique private equity firm Kantharos Capital, will propel the company’s lead candidate, TAVST01, through the final stages of preclinical development toward a planned Investigational New Drug (IND) submission by the end of 2026.

This crucial injection of capital represents a significant vote of confidence in Tikva’s strategy to solve one of the most persistent challenges in modern oncology: making cell therapy effective against solid tumors. While engineered T-cell therapies have revolutionized the treatment of blood cancers, their success has repeatedly stalled against solid malignancies like lung, breast, and pancreatic cancer. Tikva believes it has found a way to break this impasse by creating a durable, “off-the-shelf” therapy designed to persist where others have failed.

A New Blueprint for Attacking Solid Tumors

The core of Tikva’s innovation lies in its ALLO SerpinB9 EBVST platform, a technology built on decades of pioneering research exclusively licensed from Baylor College of Medicine. Instead of using generic donor T-cells, which a patient's immune system often recognizes as foreign and quickly eliminates, Tikva’s therapy is built from Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-specific T-cells.

Nearly every adult carries the dormant Epstein-Barr virus from a past infection. Consequently, the immune system maintains a lifelong population of T-cells specifically to keep this virus in check. Tikva’s scientists have harnessed this natural biological phenomenon, using these inherently persistent EBV-specific T-cells as a long-lasting chassis for their cancer-fighting payload. This approach is designed to solve the critical problem of durability that has plagued other donor-derived, or allogeneic, cell therapies.

But persistence is only half the battle. To ensure these cells survive the patient’s immune defenses, Tikva has engineered them with a molecular “armor.” The cells are equipped with an optimized form of SerpinB9, a natural protein that inhibits granzyme B—the primary enzyme used by immune cells to destroy their targets. This SerpinB9 shield allows Tikva’s therapeutic cells to resist rejection and remain active in the patient’s body.

Armed and armored, these cells are then directed to attack cancer by targeting B7-H3, a protein found in high concentrations across a wide range of difficult-to-treat solid tumors but largely absent from healthy tissue. The widespread presence of B7-H3 on cancers of the lung, prostate, pancreas, and even aggressive pediatric tumors makes it an attractive target, and its expression is often linked to a poorer prognosis.

“Cell therapy has transformed the treatment of blood cancers but has repeatedly stalled at the solid-tumor door—the donor cells either fail to persist or are eliminated by the patient's immune system before they can act,” said Dr. Ivan Horak, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Tikva Allocell. “We started from a different place: a virus-fighting T cell the body naturally sustains, armed to seek out B7-H3 and engineered to withstand the rejection that defeats most donor-derived approaches, with minimal gene editing. With this financing, we are well positioned to complete IND-enabling studies and advance TAVST01 toward its planned IND submission.”

Cracking the Allogeneic Code

Tikva’s work addresses the central promise and peril of allogeneic cell therapy. Unlike autologous therapies, which are custom-made from a patient's own cells in a costly and time-consuming process, allogeneic therapies are created from healthy donors and can be manufactured in large batches, stored, and administered on demand. This “off-the-shelf” model promises to make cell therapy more scalable, affordable, and accessible.

However, the allogeneic approach has been hampered by two major hurdles: immune rejection of the foreign cells by the host and the risk of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), where the therapeutic cells attack the patient’s healthy tissues. Many companies have turned to complex gene-editing techniques like CRISPR to knock out genes that trigger these responses, but such extensive modifications carry their own risks and regulatory complexities. Tikva's platform, by contrast, is designed to achieve persistence and avoid GvHD with minimal genetic manipulation, relying instead on the natural biology of EBV-specific T-cells and the targeted protection of SerpinB9.

This elegant scientific foundation is no accident. It is the culmination of decades of research by world-renowned immunologists Dr. Malcolm Brenner, Dr. Cliona Rooney, and Dr. Helen Heslop at Baylor College of Medicine, who are co-founders and scientific advisors to the company. Their foundational work in virus-specific T-cells provides a layer of scientific credibility that distinguishes Tikva in a crowded and competitive field.

The Investor Bet on Durability and Leadership

The $8 million Series A is more than just operating capital; it’s a strategic endorsement of Tikva’s unique approach. For Kantharos Capital, a firm backed by a family office with a long history of venture investing, the decision was rooted in the science and the potential to unlock a vast, underserved market.

“Our investment reflects strong conviction in both Tikva’s science and its leadership team,” said Terence Tan, Managing Partner at Kantharos Capital. “Tikva is addressing fundamental challenges that have constrained allogeneic cell therapies, and we believe its ALLO SerpinB9 EBVST platform can extend the reach of cell therapy to solid-tumor patients who today have limited options. We look forward to supporting the company toward IND submission and clinical evaluation.”

This financing marks Tikva's first institutional round, a critical milestone that validates its preclinical progress and provides the runway needed to generate the comprehensive data package required by regulators like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Singapore's Health Sciences Authority (HSA).

A Glimmer of Hope for Patients with Few Options

Beyond the scientific and financial milestones, the ultimate goal of TAVST01 is to offer a new lifeline to patients facing grim diagnoses. For individuals with advanced B7-H3-positive cancers, treatment options are often limited and outcomes are poor. The ability to deploy a potent, persistent, and readily available cell therapy could represent a paradigm shift in how these diseases are managed.

Preclinical data suggests TAVST01 not only kills tumor cells directly but may also help remodel the hostile tumor microenvironment, potentially making tumors more susceptible to other therapies. Furthermore, the therapy’s profile may support administration without the harsh chemotherapy regimens (lymphodepletion) typically required to make space for cell therapies, and may allow for repeat dosing to maintain pressure on the cancer.

With its IND submission on the horizon, Tikva plans to initiate Phase 1 clinical trials in both Singapore and the United States, pending regulatory clearance. These trials will be the first crucial test of whether the platform’s remarkable preclinical promise can be translated into tangible benefits for patients battling some of the most formidable forms of cancer.