What You Should Know:
– OverT Bio, a data-driven biotech company focused on unlocking the curative potential of cell therapies for solid tumors raises $16M in seed funding round. Co-led by ARTIS Ventures and Wing VC, the round saw participation from a distinguished group of investors including Fusion Fund, OMX Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, Gaingels, Civilization Ventures, Hawktail, and the Cancer Research Institute.
– The investment will fuel the company’s mission to develop more durable and effective cell therapies, offering new hope for patients battling advanced cancers.
A Data-Driven Approach to Cell Therapy Innovation
Founded in 2022 by Dr. Mat Legut and Dr. Neville Sanjana, OverT has pioneered new pooled functional screening and synthetic genomics platforms (OverTarget™ and OverTCR™) to develop next-generation engineered immune cells. OverT Bio takes a unique approach to cell therapy, leveraging a patient’s own immune response to discover novel cancer targets. The company’s groundbreaking technology scans the entire human genome, identifying new avenues to equip cell therapies with enhanced capabilities to combat and destroy cancer cells.
OverT Bio’s Pioneering Technologies:
- Massively Parallel Genetic Screening: This technology identifies the most effective genetic modifications to endow immune cells with potent anti-cancer properties.
- Single-Cell Multiomics: This platform provides a comprehensive view of individual cells within the tumor microenvironment, revealing critical insights for therapy development.
- Synthetic Biology Techniques: OverT Bio utilizes synthetic biology to engineer next-generation cell therapies with superior efficacy.
OverT Bio’s core platform represents a paradigm shift in cell therapy development. It systematically analyzes every gene in the human genome to discover the optimal genetic modifications for arming immune cells with the ability to recognize and eliminate cancer.
Strong Leadership and Scientific Foundation
OverT Bio boasts a seasoned leadership team with extensive expertise in cell therapy and immunology. Co-founder and CEO, Dr. Mat Legut, brings a proven track record of translating scientific discoveries into life-saving treatments. Co-founder, Dr. Neville Sanjana, is a renowned researcher at the New York Genome Center and NYU, and a pioneer in CRISPR technology and high-throughput functional genomics.
“Cell therapies have shown, at least in blood cancers, that we can aim to completely cure patients that have even the most advanced diseases rather than just prolong their survival,” said Dr. Mat Legut, co-founder and CEO of OverT. “With OverT’s ability to rapidly screen and engineer thousands of genes, we are building next-generation therapies to cure advanced cancers of the solid tissues.”
