Neobe, a therapeutics startup developing engineered bacteria that break down the physical barriers keeping cancer drugs out of solid tumours, has raised £5 million in a seed round led by ARC Ventures. Faber, Macmillan Ventures, the venture investment arm of Macmillan Cancer Support, Proven Connect and Empirical Ventures took part, as did pre-seed investor 2048 Ventures, which made a follow-on investment. The round brings Neobe's total funding to date to more than £8 million.
Immunotherapy and other new drugs have transformed cancer treatment, but they do not work for all patients. The reason for these failures is often physical rather than biological: a dense, fibrous matrix around the tumour creates a wall that immune cells and cancer drugs cannot cross. Neobe engineers harmless strains of common bacteria into programmable living medicines. Once injected, they travel to tumours and release enzymes that dissolve the surrounding matrix, allowing immune cells or other drugs to enter and eliminate the cancer cells.
In a 2026 paper published in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, Neobe worked with researchers at the University of Cyprus and Barts Cancer Institute in London to test its engineered bacterial platform on a model of triple negative breast cancer that did not respond to a common cocktail of immunotherapy drugs. A single dose of engineered bacteria produced complete tumour regression in response to the same treatment in one of the models tested. When the same cancer was introduced months later, no further tumours developed, suggesting that a lasting cancer-fighting immune memory had formed.
The funding will enable Neobe to take its lead programme, NEO22, through preclinical studies to an IND filing in 2028, and to strengthen its leadership team as it moves towards the clinic. Neobe has recently appointed immuno-oncology leader Laura Chow as Chief Medical Officer to oversee clinical development towards a first in human trial. That trial will be funded by an additional tranche on the current seed round.
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.
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.
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.
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.
