Infinitopes, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing cancer vaccines, has completed the second close of its seed financing round, raising an additional USD 15.4 million and bringing total funds secured to USD 35.1 million. The round was co-led by existing investor Octopus Ventures and new investor Amplify Bio, with participation from Macmillan Cancer Support as well as existing backers Cancer Research Horizons and Manta Ray Ventures.

The financing coincides with the initiation of Infinitopes’ first-in-human clinical trial of ITOP1, its lead precision therapeutic cancer vaccine designed to prevent disease recurrence in oesophageal cancer, an area of significant unmet medical need. The Phase I/IIa VISTA trial is a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled study to be conducted across multiple UK NHS university cancer centres.

Jonathan Kwok, Chief Executive Officer of Infinitopes, said the funding will enable proof-of-concept evaluation of the company’s AI- and machine learning-driven, off-the-shelf vaccine platform following surgical resection. He added that Infinitopes aims to advance innovative treatments for cancers with limited therapeutic options and expects to share early clinical data at major scientific conferences later this year.

Commenting on the investment, Elliot Hershberg, Partner at Amplify Bio, said that recent clinical progress has renewed momentum in the cancer vaccine field. He noted that Infinitopes’ AI-powered immunomics approach, scalable vaccine vector, and focused clinical strategy position the company to play a transformative role in precision oncology and immunotherapy.