T-knife Funding, Investors & Competitors

T-knife has raised $198M across 3 funding rounds, most recently a $110M Series B in August 2021.

Last T-knife funding round

$110M

Series B · Aug 2021

Cumulative funding T-knife raised

$198M

across 3 funding rounds

Key investors in T-knife

  • Andera Partners
  • RA Capital Management
  • Versant Ventures
  • Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund
  • Fidelity
  • EQT
  • Casdin Capital
  • Qatar Investment Authority

T-knife Overview

About T-knife

T-knife is a Utrecht-based biotech company developing T cell receptor therapies for solid tumors. Using its humanized TCR mouse platform, it generates high-affinity receptors targeting cancer antigens like MAGE-A4 and PRAME. The firm advances clinical candidates through partnerships with Janssen and Takeda. Founded in 2019, T-knife's pipeline includes TK-302 for ovarian cancer and TK-008 for multiple myeloma, with trials ongoing in Europe and the US.


Founded

2018

HQ

GermanyBerlin

Status

Privately held

Customer focus

B2B

Revenue model

Product sales

T-knife Funding History

T-knife has raised a total of $198M across 3 funding rounds.

T-knife's first fundraising round was a $9M seed round in March 2018. The most recent completed round was a $110M Series B in August 2021.

T-knife funding rounds

T-knife funding rounds
DateStageInvestorsRaisedDeal Summary
Aug 2021Series BFidelity (lead); Sixty Degree Capital; EQT; Casdin Capital; Qatar Investment Authority; CaaS Capital Management; Versant Ventures; Andera Partners; RA Capital Management$110MT-knife is a German biotech company based in Berlin, developing T cell receptors (TCRs) for T cell therapies targeting solid tumors, leveraging its proprietary HuTCR transgenic mouse platform to discover fully human, tumor-specific TCRs. The company's lead program, TK-8001, targets MAGE-A1-positive cancers, with a pipeline addressing cancer-testis antigens, viral antigens, and neoantigens. T-knife Therapeutics, Inc. is noted as based in Delaware, US, founded in 2018 by CEO Thomas Blankenstein and CTO Elisa Kieback. On August 2, 2021, T-knife raised $110 million in an oversubscribed Series B funding round led by Fidelity Investments, with participation from Andera Partners, CaaS Capital Management, Casdin Capital, EQT Life Sciences, Qatar Investment Authority, RA Capital Management, Sixty Degree Capital, and Versant Ventures. This brought total funding to approximately $188.17M to $197.4M across three rounds, including a prior Series A in 2020 and a 2018 spinout. The proceeds were intended to advance clinical and commercial expansion, particularly for its TCR-T therapies in solid tumors. T-knife operates in the competitive oncology biotech space, focusing on next-generation TCR-T modalities for unmet needs in solid tumors. Investors include prominent life sciences funds, indicating strong backing for its platform technology.
Aug 2020Series ARA Capital Management (lead); Versant Ventures (lead); Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund; Andera Partners$79MVersant Ventures and RA Capital Management co-led a EUR 66 million Series A financing in T-knife in August 2020, with significant participation from existing investors Andera Partners and Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, the company's seed investors and founding shareholders. The company said the transaction would close upon governmental and anti-trust clearance. Proceeds are to advance at least four programs into the clinic, ramp up preclinical work on further pipeline candidates and discover TCRs against novel targets, and the company aims to build a U.S. presence and expand its management team. The board following the round comprises representatives of RA Capital, Versant, Andera Partners and Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, alongside co-founders Thomas Blankenstein and Elisa Kieback. T-knife is a Berlin-based cell therapy company founded in 2018 as a spin-out of the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine, supported by Charite University Hospital. Its proprietary HuTCR transgenic mouse platform carries the entire human TCR alpha and beta gene loci and generates high-affinity, high-specificity T-cell receptors for adoptive T-cell therapies against solid tumors. Elisa Kieback is chief executive officer and scientific co-founder, and Blankenstein, whose work established the mouse platform, is also a co-founder.
Mar 2018SeedBoehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund; Andera Partners$9MAndera Partners and Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund provided the seed financing for T-knife in March 2018, about EUR 8 million in total according to press coverage. The round followed an earlier pre-seed arranged by Ascenion, the technology transfer office of the Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine and Charite University Hospital. T-knife is a Berlin-based biopharmaceutical company founded in 2018 as a spin-out from the Max Delbrueck Center with support from Charite. It develops T-cell receptor therapies for solid tumors using a humanized TCR mouse platform. Its lead program, TK-8001, targets MAGE-A1-positive cancers, and the pipeline also addresses cancer-testis antigens, viral antigens and shared neoantigens. The company was founded by Thomas Blankenstein, who serves as chief executive, and Elisa Kieback, scientific co-founder and chief technology officer.

Who has invested in T-knife?

10 investors have backed T-knife across its funding rounds, including Andera Partners, RA Capital Management, Versant Ventures, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, Fidelity and EQT.

Lead investors include Fidelity, RA Capital Management and Versant Ventures.


T-knife Investors

Investors in T-knife by funding rounds participated
InvestorHQRoundsRoleFirst check
Andera PartnersFranceParis3ParticipantMar 2018
Boehringer Ingelheim Venture FundGermanyIngelheim am Rhein2ParticipantMar 2018
Versant VenturesUnited StatesSan Francisco, CA2LeadAug 2020
RA Capital ManagementUnited StatesBoston, MA2LeadAug 2020
Sixty Degree CapitalCanadaToronto1ParticipantAug 2021
EQTSwedenStockholm1ParticipantAug 2021
FidelityUnited StatesBoston, MA1LeadAug 2021
Casdin CapitalUnited StatesNew York City, NY1ParticipantAug 2021

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T-knife Competitors

T-knife competitors include listed companies like Johnson & Johnson and Roche, and private ones like Biosplice Therapeutics, Biomat USA, ArsenalBio and BioRay Pharmaceuticals.

Public and private companies comparable to T-knife
CompanyHQStatusRevenueEBITDAValuationRevenue Multiple
Johnson & JohnsonUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$94B$40B$665B6.9x
RocheSwitzerlandSwitzerlandPublicly listed$78B$26B$382B5.3x
Biosplice TherapeuticsUnited StatesSan Diego, CAPrivate--$12B-
Biomat USAUnited StatesLos Angeles, CAPrivate--$4.2B-
ArsenalBioUnited StatesUnited StatesPrivate--$1.9B-
BioRay PharmaceuticalsChinaShanghaiPrivate$131M-$1.9B14.5x

T-knife Public Comps

T-knife is still privately-owned, but its public comps include Eli Lilly, Samsung, Johnson & Johnson, AbbVie, Roche, Merck, Novartis, AstraZeneca, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Amgen.

Last FYEV/RevenueEV/EBITDA
RevenueEBITDALast FYLTM2027ELast FYLTM2027E
Eli Lilly$65B$28B19.2x14.3x45.1x30.2x
Samsung$247B$68B3.1x1.6x11.3x2.7x
Johnson & Johnson$94B$40B7.4x6.9x17.3x18.8x
AbbVie$61B$17B9.6x8.8x33.7x18.6x
Roche$78B$26B5.3x5.3x15.7x13.3x
Merck$65B$28B6.2x6.1x14.5x22.9x
Novartis$57B$22B6.1x6.1x15.9x14.8x
AstraZeneca$59B$19B5.4x5.1x16.5x14.2x

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Common questions about T-knife

When was T-knife founded?T-knife was founded in 2018.
Where is T-knife headquartered?T-knife is headquartered in Berlin, Germany.
Is T-knife publicly listed?No, T-knife is a private, VC-backed company.
How much funding has T-knife raised?T-knife has raised $198M across 3 funding rounds.
What was T-knife's last funding round?T-knife's last funding round was a $110M Series B in August 2021, led by Fidelity.
Who are T-knife's investors?T-knife's investors include Andera Partners, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, Versant Ventures, RA Capital Management, Sixty Degree Capital, EQT, Fidelity, Casdin Capital, Qatar Investment Authority and CaaS Capital Management.
Which companies are comparable to T-knife?Companies comparable to T-knife include Johnson & Johnson, Roche, Biosplice Therapeutics, Biomat USA, ArsenalBio and BioRay Pharmaceuticals.

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