- Financing co-led by Octopus Ventures and new investor Amplify Bio
- Company readies its first-in-human clinical trial of ITOP1, a precision cancer vaccine designed to prevent recurrence in oesophageal cancer
OXFORD, England, Jan. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Infinitopes, a clinical-stage cancer vaccine biotechnology company, today announced the successful completion of the second close of its seed financing round, securing an additional $15.4 million and bringing the total raised to $35.1 million. This latest investment was co-led by Octopus Ventures and new investor Amplify Bio, with further participation from new investor Macmillan Cancer Support alongside existing investors Cancer Research Horizons and Manta Ray Ventures.
This funding comes as the company launches its first-in-human, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled clinical trial of ITOP1, its leading precision therapeutic vaccine aimed at preventing recurrence in oesophageal cancer, an area where clinical need remains largely unmet. The Phase I/IIa VISTA trial is to be conducted across multiple UK NHS university cancer centres and firmly positions Infinitopes at the cutting edge of the sector.
Jonathan Kwok, Chief Executive Officer of Infinitopes, said: "I'm honoured to welcome leading US West Coast biofund Amplify Bio and ecosystem champions for better patient care, Macmillan, onto our cap table. This new funding unlocks our potentially groundbreaking Phase I/IIa trial, enabling proof-of-concept evaluation of Infinitopes' AI/ML-precision targeted, off-the-shelf vaccine platform to prevent recurrence after surgical resection. We aim to lead the development of innovative medicines that bring hope to patients suffering from cancers with unmet medical needs. We anticipate sharing our early findings at major conferences later this year."
Elliot Hershberg, Partner at Amplify Bio, remarked: "Recent clinical evidence has made it abundantly clear that the time for cancer vaccines is now. After years of searching, Infinitopes has clearly distinguished itself as the company positioned to drive this progress forward. The combination of rigorous AI-powered immunomics profiling, a highly scalable off-the-shelf vector, and a defined clinical strategy is exactly what this field needs. Infinitopes has the potential to redefine immunotherapy and precision oncology in the years to come."
About Infinitopes
Infinitopes Ltd is a clinical stage, integrated cancer biotechnology company supported by Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and the University of Oxford. The Company combines two world-leading platforms, in precision target discovery and in high-efficiency, vector delivery systems, to develop immunologically durable vaccines against multiple solid tumour indications. The lead vaccine candidate, ITOP1, is expected to begin Phase I/IIa trials in Q1 2026, following UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) Clinical Trial Application (CTA) approval. Infinitopes has gathered in-house talent across antigen discovery, immunology, vaccinology, oncology, biomanufacturing, clinical trials and regulation, winning an 'Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway' (ILAP) innovation passport from the MHRA in 2022. Infinitopes has also won two prestigious, maximum size, nondilutive awards from Innovate UK, a Cancer Therapeutics Award (in 2022), and a Future Economy Investor Partnership (in 2023). Since incorporation, the Infinitopes team has raised over $35.1m from sector experts, including Amplify Bio, Cancer Research Horizons, Cancer Research Institute, Kindred Capital, Macmillan Cancer Support, Manta Ray Ventures, Martlet, Meltwind, Octopus Ventures, Saras Capital, Wilbe and the Fundación CRIS Contra el Cáncer, funding its rapid growth from three academic co-founders to a team of 20 full time equivalents. It is now the largest tenant of Oxford University's BioEscalator innovation accelerator. For more information, visit www.infinitopes.com
About Amplify Partners
Amplify Partners is one of the leading early stage investors for technical founders with over $2B under management, backing generational companies at inception like Datadog, Fastly, Runway, Temporal, dbt, and Modal. As part of Amplify's dedicated digital biology fund, they've partnered early with game changing startups at the cutting edge of bio and AI, like Recursion, Tahoe Therapeutics, Boltz, Axiom, Bexorg, and Achira. For more information visit www.amplifypartners.com
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