Promatix Biosciences Awarded Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst Grant to Advance First-in-Class EGFR × EphA2 Cis-Bispecific ADC
- Non-dilutive Biomedical Catalyst funding from Innovate UK will support the advancement of Promatix's lead cis-bispecific antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), PBS293-exatecan, towards development candidate nomination
- Award funds manufacturing scale-up, additional preclinical proof-of-concept in cell-line-derived (CDX) and patient-derived (PDX) xenograft models, and IND-enabling regulatory safety studies
- Programme also expands the potential of Promatix’s lead EGFR x EphA2 programme beyond colorectal cancer (CRC), with the same tumour-selective approach now being applied to oesophageal cancer and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
London and Cambridge, UK, July 28, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Promatix Biosciences Ltd (Promatix), an emerging UK-based biotechnology company developing innovative new classes of cancer therapies using cis-bispecific antibodies, today announced that it has been awarded a grant under the Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst 2025: Industry-led R&D small projects competition. The funding will support continued development of the Company's lead programme, PBS293-exatecan, a first-in-class EGFR × EphA2 cis-bispecific ADC for the treatment of CRC and other solid tumours.
The award will fund the scale-up and conjugation of PBS293 with an exatecan payload, additional preclinical proof-of-concept studies in both CDX and PDX models of CRC, and IND-enabling regulatory safety studies to support the nomination of PBS293-exatecan as a development candidate. In parallel, Promatix will apply its discovery platform to evaluate oesophageal cancer and NSCLC as additional indications. The work will be conducted with established UK-based contract research organisations, including Abzena, Crown Bioscience and Labcorp UK.
PBS293 targets EGFR and EphA2, two antigens co-expressed on colorectal tumour cells. While EGFR is a clinically validated target in CRC, the benefit of EGFR-targeted antibodies such as cetuximab is limited to a subset of patients and constrained by toxicity arising from EGFR expression in healthy tissue. Building on previously reported preclinical data, Promatix has advanced an exatecan-based conjugate, selected for its established clinical safety profile and efficacy. In preclinical studies, PBS293-exatecan has demonstrated potent killing of colorectal cancer cell lines while substantially sparing normal human keratinocytes and endothelial cells — consistent with the tumour-selective “AND-gate” design intended to widen the therapeutic window.
“This award from Innovate UK enables us to generate the additional preclinical data needed to move PBS293-exatecan towards development candidate nomination,” said Dr. Roy Pettipher, Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder of Promatix. “By scaling up our lead conjugate and testing it in both cell-line and patient-derived models, alongside the regulatory safety studies expected for an ADC, we plan to assemble the industry-standard data package that partners and investors are looking for. PBS293-exatecan combines potent tumour-cell killing with sparing of normal skin and vascular cells in our preclinical work, reflecting the tumour selectivity that is central to our cis-bispecific approach.”
“Non-dilutive funding of this kind is strong external validation of both our lead programme and the proteomics-driven discovery platform behind it,” said Dr. Michael Hunter, CEO and Co-Founder of Promatix. “It will enable us to advance PBS293-exatecan in colorectal cancer while extending the same logic-gated approach to further solid tumours, including oesophageal and non-small cell lung cancer. Generating robust efficacy and safety data in this programme is a key inflection point that we expect to underpin a future pharma partnership and to support our planned Series A financing, enabling us to build a broader pipeline of tumour-selective bispecific ADCs from a UK base.”
The programme reinforces Promatix's integrated platform, which combines large-scale tumour surface proteomics with logic-gated computational modelling to identify complementary antigen pairs and expand the universe of tumour-selective targets available for next-generation ADCs. EGFR × EphA2 was identified and prioritised through this platform, and success in the funded programme is intended to provide further validation of the approach across additional cancer indications.
About PBS293-exatecan
PBS293-exatecan is a full IgG1 cis-bispecific antibody-drug conjugate targeting EGFR and EphA2, in development for advanced colorectal cancer. Through cis-bispecific “AND-gate” targeting, strong binding, payload delivery and uptake occur only when both antigens are present on the same tumour cell. PBS293 is designed to address a broader patient population than current EGFR-targeted antibodies — independent of RAS/BRAF mutation status and including right-sided colorectal tumours, for which treatments such as cetuximab are ineffective.
About the Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst
The Biomedical Catalyst is an Innovate UK programme supporting innovative UK businesses to develop solutions to health and healthcare challenges. Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is creating a better future by inspiring, involving and investing in businesses developing life-changing innovations. Innovate UK provides targeted sectors with expertise, facilities and funding to test, demonstrate and evolve their ideas, driving UK productivity and economic growth.
About Promatix Biosciences Ltd
Promatix is a UK-based oncology drug discovery and development company developing next-generation bispecific antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) through rational, data-driven cis-target pairing.
The Company's approach centres on identifying optimal combinations of cancer surface markers for cis-bispecific “AND-gate” targeting, in which strong binding, payload delivery and uptake occur only when two distinct antigens are present on the same tumour cell. This dual-antigen engagement is designed to enhance tumour selectivity. By exploiting hybrid avidity, Promatix aims to reduce on-target off-tumour toxicity, enhance efficacy and expand the range of targets that can be addressed with ADCs.
At the core of the platform is TxPro, a comprehensive tumour surface proteomics database covering membrane proteins across multiple cancer types. TxPro is supported by proprietary computational analytics (CipherPro) to systematically mine tumour-selective antigen pairs, affinity-engineering capabilities (AviPro) to optimise bispecific engagement, and a modular functional validation framework for rapid evaluation and lead selection (BiPro).
Promatix is developing a pipeline of novel bispecific ADCs in colorectal cancer and additional solid tumour indications.
For more information, visit www.pro-matix.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
CONTACT INFORMATION: Promatix Biosciences Ltd info@promatix.com MEDIA CONTACT: MC Services AG Julia Bittner +49 211 529 252 28 In the US: Laurie Doyle +1 339 832 0752 promatix@mc-services.eu
