The company will develop these therapies to target human leukocyte antigen (HLA) Class II (HLA-II) in oncology field.
The funding will support Yellowstone in its operational build, progression of its lead programme for the treatment of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), and potential expansion of its pipeline.
It was spun out of the University of Oxford with the backing of Oxford University Innovation (OUI).
The company’s bispecific T-cell engagers are designed to selectively destroy tumour cells that present peptides by HLA-II molecules, while sparing healthy cells.
Yellowstone will initially focus on AML, which is responsible for 62% of all leukaemia deaths and lacks a universally accepted standard of care for most patients.
Beyond AML, the technology developed by Yellowstone has the potential to improve survival rates and revolutionise treatment for other common solid tumours that express HLA-II.
These include ovarian cancer, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, renal cancer, and melanoma.
Yellowstone Biosciences co-founder and chief scientific officer professor Paresh Vyas said: “Frequently expressed antigens that can be targeted therapeutically are notoriously difficult to find but, through two decades of research, we have identified a new class of targets that have potential to treat cancer and extend patient’s lives.
“We believe that our technology has the potential to selectively kill tumour cells, whilst sparing healthy cells, in a range of cancers. The strategy that we have built, alongside Syncona, will initially focus on developing highly selective TCR-based therapies for AML, where we have formidable experience and data. Beyond that, we are committed to broadening our pipeline to other cancer settings to maximise Yellowstone’s potential.”