Neobe Raises $6.8 Million to Break Down the Barriers That Stop Cancer Treatments From Working

STEVENAGE, United Kingdom--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Neobe has secured a seed round of US$6.8 million (£5 million) to accelerate the development of engineered bacteria that break down the physical barriers preventing cancer drugs entering into solid tumours and killing cancer cells.

The round is led by ARC Ventures with participation from Faber, Macmillan Ventures, the venture investment arm of Macmillan Cancer Support, Proven Connect, and Empirical Ventures, as well as follow-on investment from pre-seed investors 2048 Ventures. This brings the company's total funding to date to more than $10.5 million (£7.9 million).

Immunotherapy and other new drugs have transformed cancer treatment, but they don’t work for all patients. The reason for these failures is often physical rather than biological: a dense, fibrous matrix around the tumour creating a wall that immune cells and cancer drugs simply cannot cross.

Neobe’s solution is to engineer harmless strains of common bacteria into programmable living medicines. Once injected, they travel specifically to tumours and release enzymes that dissolve the surrounding matrix, effectively breaking through the wall and allowing immune cells or other drugs to enter and eliminate the cancer cells.

The idea of using pathogenic bacteria to treat cancer dates back to the early 20th century. But, until now, nobody has been able to engineer harmless bacteria to safely home in on tumours and break down these barriers to infiltration and help cancer treatments become more effective.

In a 2026 paper published in the journal in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics,* Neobe collaborated with researchers at the University of Cyprus and Barts Cancer Institute in London to test the effect of their engineered bacterial platform technology on a model of triple negative breast cancer that did not respond to a common cocktail of immunotherapy drugs.

The team found that a single dose of engineered bacteria produced complete tumour regression in response to the same treatment in one of the models tested. When tested with the same cancer months later no further tumours developed, suggesting that a lasting cancer-fighting immune memory had formed.

This funding will enable Neobe to take their lead programme NEO22 through preclinical studies to an IND filing in 2028, and enhance the leadership team as the company moves towards the clinic.

The company has recently appointed internationally recognised immuno-oncology leader Dr Laura Chow as Chief Medical Officer, to oversee clinical development towards a first in human trial, which will be funded by an additional tranche on the current seed round.

Dr Pedro Correa de Sampaio, co-founder and CEO, Neobe Therapeutics, said, "Several treatments that can cure cancer already exist, but in far too many patients they simply cannot get to where they are needed. I’m delighted to be working with investors that share our vision of making untreatable cancers curable, and excited to move our platform towards clinical trials.”

Joseph Korff, Founder of Arc Ventures, said, “We are excited to back Neobe Therapeutics’ differentiated approach to overcoming the physical barriers created by dense tumour matrices. Assets derived from Neobe’s platform will improve the efficacy of cancer therapies and extend their benefits to more patients.”

Felix Litzkow, Head of Macmillan Ventures, said, "At Macmillan Ventures, we are working alongside people who are living with cancer today, to help shape the cancer care of tomorrow. Together, we want to break down barriers – to treatment, to care and in this case, the barrier that stands between a cancer and a treatment that could cure it. We are very proud to be supporting Neobe, and to be helping create the right environment for such promising new cancer care solutions to thrive.”

Dr Julie Wolf, Partner at 2048 Ventures, said, “2048 Ventures is proud to have supported Neobe since their pre-seed. The mission of Neobe and its founders has always resonated with us, which is to make life-saving drugs available and effective for all patients, regardless of the tumour microenvironment. We're thrilled to continue working with Neobe and the current syndicate toward making that vision a reality.”

*Panagi M, et al. Synthetic Inducible Bacteria Normalize the Microenvironment of Refractory Tumors, Potentiating Checkpoint Inhibitor Responses. Mol Cancer Ther. 2026 doi: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-25-0203

About Neobe Therapeutics

Neobe Therapeutics is a bio-engineering company building programmable bacterial therapeutics that break down the physical barriers keeping drugs and immune cells out of solid tumours. Founded in 2021, Neobe is working towards making untreatable cancers curable. Find out more: neobetherapeutics.com.