Tzu Cancer Therapeutics B.V., a startup based on the Amsterdam Science Park, today announces that it has completed the acquisition of Fetch B.V. The deal strengthens Tzu Cancer Therapeutics by providing access to novel technology for isolation of circulating tumor cells from the blood of patients with cancer, developed by Fetch.
With the acquisition of Fetch by Tzu Cancer Therapeutics, the entire workflow for capturing circulating tumor cells, the molecular characterization of those cells (DNA, RNA, proteins) and translation of those findings to personalized therapeutic possibilities is now all present under one roof.
As part of the deal, the IP underlying Fetch technology has been transferred from the University Twente to Tzu Cancer Therapeutics. The former Fetch team will be onboarded at the Tzu offices at Science park in Amsterdam and strengthen the existing team of scientists and business professionals at Tzu.
“We are excited to team up with the Fetch team and use their unique approach of isolation of circulating tumor cells as a basis for our TzuPlus pipeline”, says Wigard Kloosterman, CEO of Tzu. “We strongly believe that careful characterization of circulating tumor cells is a key step towards development of next generation personalized cancer therapies.”
“I have been working in the field of circulating tumor cells for many years and this acquisition marks the start of a new chapter”, adds Michiel Stevens, former CEO of Fetch. “Together we can obtain all molecular information of cancer cells that have the capacity to metastasize, with the goal to target those cells with the optimal therapy.”
About Circulation Tumor Cells
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are cancer cells that break away from solid tumors and enter the bloodstream (or other body fluids). Even small tumors can release a substantial number of these cells, and a typical cancer patient may have thousands of CTCs circulating in their blood at any given moment. Once in circulation, these CTCs travel through the body and play a critical role in the spread of cancer, or metastasis, by forming new tumors in distant organs. Fortunately, CTCs can be isolated from blood samples, providing valuable opportunities for early detection, monitoring disease progression, and developing targeted therapies.
The new era of personalized oncology depends on a thorough characterization of tumors. At Tzu Cancer Therapeutics, we are building technology to carefully isolate CTCs from individual patients and generate deep information on the expression of possible targets for therapy using advanced omics data generation and analysis. We are using this information to build novel patient-specific therapeutic strategies aligned with the characteristics of the tumor.
About Tzu Cancer Therapeutics B.V.
The company was founded in July 2024 with the aim to develop personalized therapy based on molecular information gained from tumor cells that are actively spreading the disease via the blood, so-called circulating tumor cells. The company has a unique focus on circulating tumor cells, as they are the key drivers of metastatic cancer, which is the most important cause of death for cancer patients.
About Fetch B.V.
Fetch is a spin-off from the University of Twente, pioneering a new approach for the separation of cancer cells from white blood cells obtained through leukapheresis. A typical leukapheresis product contains billions of white blood cells and only few dozen to a few hundred circulating tumor cells. The Fetch technology enables rapid and effective enrichment of the tumor cells for subsequent analysis.
Inspired by the wisdom of Sun Tzu, we aim to revolutionize cancer treatment through cutting-edge, personalized solutions that enhance patient care and outcomes.
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