MetaCurUm Secures SEK 1 Million Grant for Cancer Treatment

MetaCurUm AB has been awarded one million SEK from the Swedish Innovation Agency, Vinnova, under the "Acceleration of Deeptech Companies 2024" initiative.
"This support is crucial for us as it brings us closer to securing additional funding that will help us advance to clinical trials," says CEO Maarten de Château.

MetaCurUm AB is developing a therapeutic antibody for the treatment of prostate cancer and other solid tumors. The antibody has shown promising results in proof-of-concept and in-vitro systems studies, successfully passing the initial scaling-up phase. The Vinnova funds will be used further to validate MetaCurUm's mechanism of action and product.

Collaboration with the Institute for Cancer Research in London
"This is also part of our collaboration with the Institute of Cancer Research in London and Professor Johan de Bono, where we will test the therapeutic antibody in his in-vitro models," explains Maarten de Château.

MetaCurUm, which receives business support from Umeå Biotech Incubator, has received one million SEK for the first phase of this initiative. If the set goals are achieved, the company can receive additional grants. A company can be awarded up to four million SEK over three years across all project phases.

The "Acceleration of Deeptech Companies 2024" initiative aims to accelerate the commercial development of awarded companies by mitigating various risks and enhancing commercial opportunities. The purpose of these funds is also to support the solution that the company is developing, which aims to contribute to solving our greatest societal challenges.

Based on the research of Professor Maréne Landström
MetaCurUm's foundation lies in Professor Maréne Landström's research, at Umeå University, on a specific oncogenic TGFβ signaling pathway that cancer cells use to become invasive and metastasize. MetaCurUm aims to develop an antibody to block this pathway, thereby preventing the spread of tumor cells.