Tagworks Pharmaceuticals

Founded 2011
Employees 10+
Primary contact
Toernooiveld 1
6525 ED Nijmegen
Netherlands
+31 85 800 8550
Diseases & Conditions
Tagworks Pharmaceuticals is a precision therapy company and a pioneer of the Click-to-Release approach. Leveraging its patent-protected technology platform, it aims to create a new standard of care for patients suffering from severe diseases, including cancer. With operations in the Netherlands and the U.S., Tagworks is developing a pipeline of click-cleavable therapies. Its lead program, TGW101, is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting TAG72 — a clinically-validated, pan-carcinoma target that so far has remained out of reach of current ADC therapies. Tagworks' technology enables on-target activation of ADCs and immunomodulators, as well as off-target deactivation of radioimmunotherapies to enhance their therapeutic index.
Founded 2011
Employees 10+
Primary contact
Toernooiveld 1
6525 ED Nijmegen
Netherlands
+31 85 800 8550
Diseases & Conditions

Funding πŸ’°

Total $65M
Last round πŸ”— $65M
Series A
June 22, 2023.
Select investors Ysios Capital, Gilde Healthcare, New Enterprise Associates, Novartis Venture Fund, BIF Partners, Lightstone Ventures, Meneldor, OostNL

Key people πŸ§‘β€πŸ€β€πŸ§‘

Highlights ⭐

  • Patent-protected tech: A key patent encompassing the therapeutic application scope of the Click-to-Release platform has been granted in the US, further strengthening Tagworks' IP portfolio. The patent titled "BIO-ORTHOGONAL DRUG ACTIVATION" protects a broad scope of TCO linkers and tetrazine activators and their application in selective on-target release and activation of a wide range of constructs, including small molecule prodrugs, antibody-drug conjugates, and caged proteins. πŸ”—
  • Expanding the ADC target scope: Tagworks Pharmaceuticals is leveraging its Click-to-Release approach to expand the ADC (antibody-drug conjugate) target scope to non- or poorly internalizing receptors and markers. It also enables controlled drug release with a broad bystander effect that makes it possible to kill tumors with heterogenous target expression. πŸ”—
  • Nobel-prized tech: Tagworks Pharmaceuticals is the pioneer of the technology known as Click-to-Release, and the first company built to utilize this therapeutic approach. Click-to-Release was developed based on the 2022 Nobel Prize winning research of Carolyn Bertozzi, Morten Meldal and Barry Sharpless, as well as on the foundational work of Joseph Fox (University of Delaware). πŸ”—

Awards & Recognitions πŸ†

  • 2019 World ADC Award for Best Publication

Quotes πŸ’¬

We are proud to have assembled such a strong, international syndicate of investors around Tagworks. Click-to-Release shows tremendous potential to bring forward a new generation of biologic therapeutics with higher efficacy and improved safety that could be very meaningful for patients. We look for companies with truly differentiated approaches, and thus we are delighted to support Tagworks in its next phase of development.
Thomas Harth, Principal at Ysios Capital πŸ”—
Tagworks' cutting-edge technology platform is very promising for the development of first and best in class therapeutics, such as ADCs, immunomodulators and radiopharmaceuticals. The ability to enable on-target activation or off-target deactivation is a potentially game-changing opportunity in the field of drug development. We look forward to working closely with this top-tier team as it advances powerful new treatments for cancer and other diseases.
Edwin de Graaf, Managing Partner at Gilde Healthcare πŸ”—
Last update: June 28, 2023