Cycuria Therapeutics has officially launched with the formation of an advisory board featuring leaders in haemato-oncology, protein engineering, and early-stage drug development, alongside the securing of significant public grant funding.

Based in Graz, Austria, the preclinical-stage biotech company is developing novel biologics that selectively target tumour cells and tumour stem cells, while preserving healthy blood cell production. Its lead candidate, CUR-101, is a first-in-class engineered protein therapy for acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) with potential applications across other blood cancers and hard-to-treat solid tumours.

The company has secured grant funding from two national innovation bodies — the FFG (Forschungs Förderungs Gesellschaft) and the AWS (Austria Wirtschaftsservice Gesellschaft mbH). This follows an initial Seed investment from Munich-based Wieland Capital.

Dr Nisit Khandelwal, CEO and Co-Founder of Cycuria, said the formation of the Advisory Board represents a significant milestone: “Since the company’s inception we have worked to put together an illustrious group of academic leaders and industry heavyweights whose deep expertise will be instrumental in shaping our future research and clinical development plans.”

The Advisory Board includes:

• Prof. Dr Philipp Jost, Professor of clinical oncology at the Medical University of Graz
• John Haurum, Biotech board member and former CEO of F-star
• Dr Bertolt Kreft, CSO of Bright Peak Therapeutics and former VP Immuno-Oncology at Bayer
• Prof. Dr Andrew Wei, clinical haematologist at Peter MacCallum Centre and Royal Melbourne Hospital
• Prof. Dr Felix Wieland, distinguished biochemist
• Prof. Dr Walter Nickel, Professor of Biochemistry at Heidelberg University

Extensive preclinical research on CUR-101 suggests the therapy could address significant unmet needs by delivering durable responses and an improved safety profile compared to existing AML treatments. The protein selectively targets and eliminates immature cancer cells and their progenitor leukaemic stem cells (LSCs), without harming healthy haematopoietic stem cells.

Melissa Simon, partner at Wieland Capital, added: “That Cycuria has been able to put together such a top-level Advisory Board, early in its development, is testament to the transformational potential of its technology.”

The grant funding from AWS and the FFG will support further development of CUR-101. AWS serves as the Austrian government’s development bank, supporting entrepreneurship, while the FFG Life Science Grant promotes R&D projects in biotechnology and life sciences.