Novel immunotherapy platform aims to transform personalized medicine for patients with cancer
January 07, 2025 – FACIT congratulates portfolio company, Esphera SynBio (“Esphera”), on successfully securing seed financing and strategic partners to continue developing bespoke cancer immunotherapies using their proprietary engineered exosome-based platform for improved vaccine efficacy.
FACIT’s investment in Esphera from its Compass Rose Oncology Fund is supporting a collaboration based on homegrown intellectual property (IP). Esphera’s innovation leverages IP initially developed by the company’s co-founders, Drs. Carolina Ilkow and John Bell at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and Dr. Brian Lichty at McMaster University. The Compass Rose fund is part of FACIT’s commercialization programs to strategically capitalize on the province’s support for research innovation and to cultivate local entrepreneurial scientists. FACIT joined investor GKCC in the seed round and FACIT’s president, Dr. David O’Neill, will serve as Esphera’s Chair of the Board of Directors.
Drs. Bell and Lichty are building on their previous experience successfully growing Turnstone Biologics, also a FACIT backed start-up, into a now publicly traded company on the Nasdaq exchange. Further, Dr. Ilkow was the winner of a previous Falcons’ Fortunes pitch competition hosted by FACIT. Working with the co-founders again and gaining the trust of Ontario’s leading entrepreneurs is a testament to FACIT’s commitment to growing the province’s life science ecosystem while propelling promising cancer innovations to benefit patients sooner.
Read the company’s news release here.
To learn more about Esphera SynBio and related FACIT news, please click here.
About FACIT
FACIT is an award-winning commercialization venture firm that builds companies with entrepreneurs to accelerate oncology innovation, with a portfolio that has attracted more than $1.6 billion in investment to Ontario. Blending industry experience, capital and the unsurpassed clinician-scientist network of its strategic partner the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR), FACIT capitalizes on the province’s investment in research and healthcare to the benefit of the local economy and patients worldwide. Cancer Breakthroughs. Realized. facit.ca
PORTFOLIO
FACIT actively manages our diverse portfolio of Ontario oncology assets (including therapeutics, imaging, diagnostics, and technology platforms) that span all stages of commercialization, from proof-of-concept to clinical development.
FUNDS
With critical seed funding, FACIT makes it possible for Ontario’s best cancer research discoveries to compete globally and reach patients.