BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 28. Danish med-tech company IO Biotech has secured a 57.5 million euro venture debt agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB), Trend reports.
The deal consists of three committed tranches totaling up to 37.5 million euros, available upon meeting specific conditions, and an additional uncommitted accordion tranche of 20 million euros.
IO Biotech, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing immune-modulating cancer vaccine therapies. The funding will primarily support the clinical development, regulatory approval, and market launch of IO102-IO103, an immunotherapeutic vaccine for melanoma, with plans for broader cancer applications. The financing is backed by the European Commission’s InvestEU program.
The debt facility will also help advance the development of additional product candidates from the company’s proprietary platform. The funding aims to transition IO Biotech from an R&D-focused company to a full-fledged pharmaceutical company with a portfolio of cancer therapies.
EIB Vice-President Ioannis Tsakiris emphasized the importance of risk-taking investors to help innovative European companies scale and reach commercialization. IO Biotech’s CFO Amy Sullivan noted that the funding comes at a crucial time, ahead of the expected phase 3 study results for the company’s lead vaccine candidate in the third quarter of 2025.