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Ability Pharmaceuticals
Ability Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage (phase 2b) biopharmaceutical company based near Barcelona, Spain, developing first-in-class oncology drugs that induce cytotoxic autophagy selectively in cancer cells. Its lead candidate, ABTL0812 (ibrilatazar), is in phase 2b trials for metastatic pancreatic cancer across the USA, Spain, France and Israel, after completing phase 2a in endometrial and lung cancer. Founded in 2009, it has raised over $37M to date including non-dilutive government/EU funding and VC rounds.
SectorsBiotechnology, Oncology, Pharmaceuticals, Clinical-stage drug development
Start-up MapHealthtech & Bio › Drug discovery & therapeutics developers
Founders
C
Carles Domènech
Executive Chairman, CEO & Co-Founder
J
Jordi Espadaler
Co-Founder & Scientific Advisor
Global models 5
RRelay Therapeutics
USA · www.relaytx.com ↗
VC-backed clinical-stage oncology biopharma developing first-in-class small-molecule drugs against novel cancer targets, similar to Ability Pharma's model.
~$520MComparable
NNimbus Therapeutics
USA · www.nimbustx.com ↗
Clinical-stage biotech using computational drug discovery to develop novel small-molecule oncology and immunology therapeutics, a comparable VC-funded clinical biopharma model.
~$500MComparable
K
Kronos Bio
USA · www.kronosbio.com ↗
VC-backed clinical-stage oncology company developing first-in-class small-molecule drugs targeting transcriptional regulators in cancer.
~$252MComparable
CCasma Therapeutics
USA · www.casmatx.com ↗
The closest direct comparable: a VC-backed biotech built specifically around modulating autophagy to treat cancer and other diseases, later acquired by Sanofi.
$183MComparable
V
Vescor Therapeutics
USA
Deerfield/MD Anderson-backed biotech discovering small-molecule inhibitors of the autophagy pathway specifically for pancreatic, lung and melanoma cancers, mirroring Ability Pharma's mechanism.
Undisclosed (est. <$50M)Comparable
In the same niche 67 others
See all in the Start-ups Map →
Notes: Most funded first
Investors 11
Open as list →
CCapital Cell
capitalcell.com
IInveready
www.inveready.com
F
Fitalent
fitalent.com
CCentro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico y la Innovación
www.cdti.es
EEIC Fund
eic.ec.europa.eu
SSodena
www.sodena.com
CCTI Life Sciences Fund
G
GESAMO
I
IVAMOSA
S
SciClone Pharmaceuticals
O
Oncotherapy Private Investments
Funding rounds 5
·2 not counted| Date | Round | Amount | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-03-11 | Series A (estimated) | €7M |
CTI Life Sciences Fund
+7 more
|
| 2020-12-28 | Series A (estimated) | $1M |
Lead not disclosed
+2 more
|
| 2019-09-12 | Series A (estimated) | €3.5M |
Lead not disclosed
+3 more
|
| 2018-12-05 | Seed (estimated) | €1.23M |
Lead not disclosed
+1 more
|
| 2012-09-21 | Seed (estimated) | €700K |
Lead not disclosed
+1 more
|
Not counted (2)
| 2020-03-16 | Grant | €2.5M | EIC Fund |
| 2012-09-21 | Public Loan | €300K | Genoma España |
News 5
Open as list →| Published | Article |
|---|---|
| 2025-06-05 |
AbilityPharma's IBRILATAZAR (ABTL0812) doubles overall survival in patients with squamous non-small cell lung cancer ↗
Cancer Network
2025-06-05 |
| 2024-09-09 |
IBRILATAZAR (ABTL0812) from AbilityPharma increases chemotherapy effectiveness by 40% in patients with endometrial cancer ↗
BioSpace
2024-09-09 |
| 2024-07-16 |
AGC Pharma Chemicals and AbilityPharma work together to produce innovative treatment for pancreatic cancer ↗
AGC Pharma Chemicals
2024-07-16 |
| 2024-03-11 |
AbilityPharma Completes €7M Investment Round ↗
Contract Pharma
2024-03-11 |
| 2023-06-01 |
Ability Pharmaceuticals announces the presentation of the phase 2a results of ABTL0812 as first-line therapy in patients with lung cancer at the ASCO 2023 Annual Meeting in Chicago ↗
Ability Pharma (press release)
2023-06-01 |