PROKARIUM
27.10.2020 08:02:10 CET | Business Wire | Press release
Prokarium, a privately-held biotechnology company developing novel immunotherapies and vaccines based on its engineered microbial platform, today announced the closing of a Series B investment round of $21M led by Korea Investment Partners (KIP). In addition to KIP, the UK government’s Future Fund (FF), Flerie Invest and Riyadh Valley Company (RVC) also participated in the financing round.
“We are very pleased with this strong financial support and with the global networks our investors bring,” said Ted Fjallman, PhD, CEO of Prokarium. “The funds will support the development efforts of our microbial immunotherapy for the treatment of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, which we plan to advance to the clinic by 2022, as well as the expansion of our pipeline across multiple solid tumours. This financing, together with our recently announced partnership with the Wellcome Trust for funding our clinical studies of Entervax, positions Prokarium well to realize the potential of our microbial immunotherapy platform.”
“KIP is delighted to lead this financing of Prokarium and to continue to invest in their team and platform” said Sangwoo Lee, Managing Director, KIP. “Prokarium’s approach of developing microbial immunotherapy that stimulates innate immunity and modulates the tumour microenvironment is very exciting and has the potential to transform cancer treatment across the world.”
In conjunction with the financing, Hyam Levitsky, MD, will join Prokarium’s Board of Directors. Hy brings over 30 years of internal medicine, oncology and immunology research experience and currently serves as the President of Research and Development at Century Therapeutics. Prior to Century, he served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Juno Therapeutics and Head of Cancer Immunology Experimental Medicine at Roche.
“I am excited to join Prokarium’s Board and to provide my scientific expertise to develop novel microbial immunotherapies” said Hyam Levitsky. “Prokarium’s bacterial strains have the potential to be potent activators of multiple innate immune pathways, harnessing intrinsic microbial properties combined with modulatory effects from cutting-edge engineering to initiate and drive a patient’s anti-tumor responses. This harbours the potential to perform both as a monotherapy or in combination with other immunotherapies.”
Prokarium also strengthens its executive team with the promotion of Kristen Albright, PharmD, to Chief Operating Officer, Livija Deban, PhD, to Vice President of Research, and the appointment of Peter McGowan, FCCA, as Chief Financial Officer.
"I am very pleased to announce these well-deserved appointments on Prokarium's executive team," said Steve Chatfield, PhD, Chairman of Prokarium. "It is critical that we have the optimal organizational structure in place to drive the continued advancement of our pipeline and the success of our company."
- Ends -
About Prokarium
Prokarium is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing microbial cancer immunotherapies. Using the company’s leading-edge technology platform, Prokarium’s mission is to use its expertise in engineering biology and immunology to improve the lives of patients with solid tumours, with its lead oncology program expected to enter the clinic in 2022. The Company is also leveraging its platform, in conjunction with the Wellcome Trust, for the phase 1 and phase 2 clinical evaluation of a combination vaccine against typhoid and paratyphoid. Prokarium is headquartered in London, UK. For more information please visit www.prokarium.com .
About Korea Investment Partners
Korea Investment Partners (KIP) is South Korea’s leading venture capital and private equity firm with over 30 years of experience investing in bold and innovative entrepreneurs who want to change the world. KIP manages over 20 venture and private equity funds with over $2.6 billion AUM. The company operates globally from its Seoul headquarters office with other locations in Shanghai, Beijing, and Sunnyvale. Notable successful life science exits include Elastagen to Allergan, Auris Health to Johnson and Johnson, as well as multiple IPOs such as ABL Bio [Kosdaq: A298380], Helixmith [Kosdaq: 084990], Qurient [Kosdaq: 115180], i-Sense [Kosdaq: 099190], HLB [Kosdaq: 028300], and PCL [Kosdaq: 241820].
About Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer (NMIBC)
Around 550,000 cases of bladder cancer occur every year with approximately 70% of tumours diagnosed as non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. NMIBC remains a very challenging cancer to treat with high rates of recurrence and progression associated with approved therapies. The first-line treatment is Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), an attenuated tuberculosis (TB) vaccine that is instilled directly into the bladder requiring up to 27 instillations. Intravesical therapies remain the most promising route of administration; however, very little innovation has been invested to replace and improve upon BCG since its approval by the FDA in 1990. Currently there remains a severe global shortage of BCG, which leaves limited treatment options for newly diagnosed NMIBC patients.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201027005092/en/
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Andersen Consulting tilføjer samarbejdspartneren Milestone Technologies19.3.2026 19:02:00 CET | Pressemeddelelse
Andersen Consulting fortsætter med at styrke sin platform for digital transformation med tilføjelsen af samarbejdspartneren Milestone Technologies, der er en veletableret global leverandør af it-services og digitale løsninger med base i USA. Milestone Technologies blev grundlagt i 1997 og leverer omfattende teknologi- og outsourcingløsninger, der spænder over digitale arbejdspladstjenester, cloud- og infrastrukturstyring, data, AI og automatisering, apps og digital engineering, business process outsourcing samt implementering af platforme som ServiceNow og Salesforce. Med hovedkontor i Fremont, Californien, opererer Milestone i 35 lande på globalt plan og samarbejder med nogle af verdens største virksomheder. Virksomhedens integrerede leveringsmodel gør det muligt for kunder at transformere deres it-drift, øge serviceeffektiviteten og skalere teknologiske økosystemer gnidningsfrit over hele verden. "Milestone Technologies er en medarbejderfokuseret organisation, der leverer målbare for
Klarna Card reaches 5 million active customers19.3.2026 15:31:00 CET | Press release
Klarna, the global digital bank and payments provider, today announced that the Klarna Card has reached 5 million active customers globally, underscoring rapid adoption as consumers shift towards new forms of payment which provide more control over day-to-day money management. The card draws from the customer's own funds for everyday spending, with the option to spread the cost of a specific purchase, like a large appliance or a flight, when it makes sense to do so. The result is a card that offers genuine spending control without the long-term debt obligations that come with traditional credit cards. The card’s growth is reinforced by Klarna’s membership program. The program offers premium perks such as airport lounge access, travel insurance, and lifestyle subscriptions — without requiring users to take on debt, meet spending thresholds, or revolve balances. By separating everyday spending from rewards, Klarna is challenging the strings-attached model legacy banks have long relied on
Stonebranch Releases 2026 Global State of IT Automation Report, Revealing Orchestration as the Missing Link for AI Adoption and Trust19.3.2026 14:30:00 CET | Press release
New research shows hybrid IT orchestration, automation-as-a-service, and WLA investments are accelerating as AI workflow deployment scales across the enterprise. Stonebranch, a leading provider of service orchestration and automation solutions, today released its annual 2026 Global State of IT Automation Report, the company’s most comprehensive research study to date. Based on responses from 402 IT automation professionals spanning C-suite executives to individual contributors across North America, EMEA, Latin America, and APAC, the report provides a detailed, data-driven portrait of how enterprises are investing in, deploying, and deriving value from IT automation in 2026. “This year’s findings highlight an important shift in how organizations approach automation,” said Giuseppe Damiani, CEO of Stonebranch. “Organizations are now building automation as strategic infrastructure — a governed, scalable foundation that spans hybrid environments, operationalizes AI, and delivers automation
Perma-Pipe Accelerates Growth with New U.S. Northeast Facility Investment to serve Artificial Intelligence Data Center customers, Provides Middle East Operations’ Update and Concludes the Board’s Review of Strategic Alternatives19.3.2026 14:00:00 CET | Press release
Perma-Pipe International Holdings, Inc. (the “Company”) today announced a strategic expansion initiative focused on accelerating growth through entry into the high-demand U.S. Northeast region. The Company is positioning itself to capitalize on the rapidly expanding Artificial Intelligence (“AI”)-driven data center market in both the United States and international markets while continuing to reinforce its leadership in critical infrastructure solutions. As part of this growth strategy, Perma-Pipe will prioritize investments aimed at expanding its presence in the rapidly evolving AI data center sector. The initiative reflects the Company’s long-term commitment to supporting next-generation technology infrastructure and strengthening its position in the global energy, industrial, and infrastructure markets. Expansion in the U.S. Northeast President & Chief Executive Officer, Saleh Sagr said, “We are excited to announce the expansion of our operations with a new facility in the Northeast
Armis Launches First-of-Its-Kind Benchmark Report Warning of Critical Security Gaps in AI-Native Development19.3.2026 13:00:00 CET | Press release
Research reveals 100% of leading generative AI models fail to generate secure code for critical development scenarios Armis, the cyber exposure management & security company, is warning that the rapid enterprise adoption of AI-native development is outpacing critical security safeguards, leaving organizations exposed to systemic vulnerabilities. New research from Armis Labs’ Trusted Vibing Benchmark Report, which evaluates 18 leading generative AI models across 31 test scenarios, reveals a 100% failure rate in generating secure code. These vulnerabilities are most prevalent in high-risk areas like memory buffer overflows, design file uploads and authentication systems. Therefore, organizations should immediately implement AI-native application security controls to reduce risk. “The era of vibe coding is here, but speed should not come at the cost of security,” said Nadir Izrael, CTO and Co-Founder of Armis. “Our research finds that the worst offenders are the same ones selling security
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom