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Tumour-associated carbohydrate antigens

A new target class for solid tumours.

Cancer cells wear sugar signatures that healthy tissue doesn't. Tacalyx turns them into precise antibody-based therapies.

Explore our science See the pipeline
Apr 2026 TCX-201 selected as first clinical candidate End 2026: next clinical candidate selection
Max Planck spin-out
2019
raised from a top-tier European syndicate
€18m+
first CTA planned
2027
modalities: ADC · TCE · multi-specific
3

01Target class

Hiding in plain sight.

Tumour-associated carbohydrate antigens (TACAs) are sugar structures that appear when a cell turns malignant. They are highly expressed across many solid tumours and persist after standard therapies fail.

They have long been considered undruggable, because antibodies against sugars are notoriously hard to make. Tacalyx's platform was built to do exactly that.

What TACAs are
Healthy cell compared with tumour cell On healthy cells, glycans are long and branched. On tumour cells they are truncated into short structures, the tumour-associated carbohydrate antigens. An antibody binds these tumour-specific structures. HEALTHY TISSUE TUMOUR CELL Full-length, branched glycans Truncated glycans: TACAs ADC with payload
Tumour-associated carbohydrate antigen Drug payload Schematic, not to scale.

02Platform

Chemistry first. Antibodies that hold.

Max Planck glycan chemistry gives us what the field has lacked: pure, defined TACA structures to raise and select antibodies against.

  1. 01 / 03

    Synthesise

    Pure, defined TACA structures made by Max Planck glycan chemistry, instead of heterogeneous material from cells.

  2. 02 / 03

    Discover

    High-affinity, highly selective antibodies against targets that the immune system barely recognises.

  3. 03 / 03

    Develop

    The same antibodies engineered into the right modality: ADC, T-cell engager or multi-specific.

How the platform works

03Pipeline

From discovery to the clinic.

Next milestone Next clinical candidate selection End 2026

First clinical candidate

TCX-201

Modality
ADC
Target
Undisclosed TACA
Indication
Gastrointestinal malignancies and other solid tumours
Stage
IND/CTA-enabling

Antibody-drug conjugate against a tumour-associated carbohydrate antigen found across gastrointestinal cancers. Selected in April 2026 as Tacalyx's first clinical candidate.

Latest data

Next milestone

CTA filing Planned 2027

Full pipeline

ADC programme

TCX-101

Modality
ADC
Target
Undisclosed TACA
Indication
Solid tumours
Stage
Preclinical

First-in-class antibody with high affinity for its TACA target. ADC variants stayed active in a multi-resistant breast cancer cell line in which standard-of-care compounds did not.

Latest data

Next milestone

To be announced

Full pipeline
Full pipeline and milestones

Investigational programmes. Not approved for any use.

04Partnering

Our targets. Your modality.

Tacalyx collaborates with partners who want to bring a new, tumour-selective target class into their ADC, T-cell engager or multi-specific programmes.

Start a conversation
  • Antibody-drug conjugates Tumour-selective delivery of your payload.
  • T-cell engagers Redirecting T cells to a sugar signature.
  • Multi-specifics A TACA arm combined with a protein target.

05People and backers

Built to take antibodies to the clinic.

A leadership team with ADC development experience from NBE Therapeutics and Boehringer Ingelheim, founded on Max Planck science and backed by a top-tier European syndicate.

Jean Engela

Chief Executive Officer

Portrait of Peter Sondermann, PhD

Peter Sondermann, PhD

Chief Scientific Officer & Co-founder

Prof. Dr. Matthias Ocker

Head of Experimental Medicine

Kajo Wiest

Head of Finance & Administration

Investors

  • Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund
  • Kurma Partners
  • High-Tech Gründerfonds
  • coparion
  • Eurazeo
  • Creathor Ventures
  • Thuja Capital
  • April 2026 €11m first closing of the seed extension. A subsequent closing with additional investors is intended.
Meet the team

06News

Latest from Tacalyx.

All news

Scientific presentations

TCX-201 and TCX-101 data presented at AACR 2026

Two posters at the AACR Annual Meeting 2026: the preclinical profile of first clinical candidate TCX-201 (Poster 5631) and new TCX-101 data (Poster 5584).

“Cancer patients cannot wait.”

Jean Engela, CEO
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