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Versant's Century Aims For Off-The-Shelf Cancer Cell Therapies

 
• By Joseph Haas

With Bayer’s venture arm providing $215m, Versant Ventures’ Century Therapeutics emerges with $250m and a plan to develop allogeneic stem cell therapies for various cancers, including solid tumors.

woman assistant in laboratory research of cancer stem cells - Image
Century will use stem cells to manufacture off-the-shelf cell therapies for cancer

Century Therapeutics debuted on 1 July with $250m in backing for its strategy to develop off-the-shelf cell therapies for cancer using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), an approach it says will give it technological advantages over much of the cell therapy field. Leaps by Bayer – Bayer AG's venture capital arm – provided $215m in funding, with Versant Ventures and technology partner Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics Inc. kicking in the remainder.

Versant founded the company with seed funding in 2018, followed shortly thereafter by a deal with Fujifilm that gives Century...

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