A hard-to-hear cancer diagnosis might no longer mean a terminal outcome in the near future, thanks to TC BioPharm.

A staggering cancer-related fact is that over 10 million people lose their lives to cancer each year. According to medical stats, at least one-third of the most common cancer types are preventable.

Becoming aware of the fact that cancer is the second-leading cause of death worldwide, Angela Scott, Artin Moussavi, David Gallagher, and Michael Leek couldn’t just stand still and do nothing about it.

The year 2014 marked the beginning of TC BioPharm - the company that’ll pull the rug from underneath cancer.

Stick around to read the motivating story of how 4 people took their knowledge and enthusiasm and blended it to create a life-changing approach to treating cancer.

Who’s in the Story?

We can’t begin the story of TC BioPharma without mentioning every one of the 4 co-founders, even though two of them continued their business ventures elsewhere.

Let’s begin with the only woman on the co-founding team - Angela Scott.

The Lady That Redefined Genetics

Here’s a fun fact about Angela: She was on the team that cloned Dolly, the sheep. How amazing is that?! With over 30 years of hands-on experience in stem-cell research and the inclusion of ground-breaking cell therapy, Angela truly is a superstar in biological sciences.

Born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, Angela was meant for greatness from the beginning of her Bachelor’s studies at Napier University. Successfully garnering as much knowledge in biological sciences as possible, Angela became part of a quartet that will redefine cancer diagnosis and treatment for good.

The Versatile Money-Maker

Dr. Artin Moussavi was part of the team that established TC BioPharma and helped it transform from a start-up to a clinical-stage company. Artin started his studies at the Glasgow Academy in 1984 and continued for a BSc in Immunology at the University of Edinburgh. He got his Ph.D. in Pathology and Immunology from King’s College London, while he extended his knowledge in Business on UEMS.

Having a lot to do with the company's funding, Artin managed to raise a whopping sum of £20 million from collaborations with major pharmaceutical brands.

After placing TC BioPharma on sold financial grounds, Artin moved forward to do the same with several other companies, and he did pretty well.

The Legal Maverick

David Gallagher stayed with TC BioPharma for 5 years, ensuring every legal aspect of the company's functioning was covered.

David ensured the company wouldn’t meet any legal obstacles while on its way to researching and devising ground-breaking cancer treatment.

The Regenerative Medicine Whizz

Dr. Michael Leek is the last of the co-founding quartet that still runs the company. An expert with more than 30 years of experience in regenerative medicine, Michael helped shape TC BioPharma into an industry-leading company.

In 2016, he got the Scottish Life-Sciences Entrepreneurial Business Leadership award, which speaks for his achievements.

The Spark That Ignited the Fire

Driven by enthusiasm, knowledge, and the will to do something about how cancer affected lives worldwide, the 4 co-founders set their minds on developing a whole new approach to cancer diagnosis.

Knowing how heart-breaking it was to receive news of a loved one being diagnosed with cancer, Angela was the first to give power to the idea of devising a clinical method that would deliver a more cost-efficient and accurate outcome regarding a cancer diagnosis.

TC BioPharm: The Place of Innovation

It wasn’t until February 2014 that the company officially became a brand. Led by the idea to develop and streamline innovative cell-based products for the sake of treating disease, and improving patient health, ultimately bettering the quality of life.

Building up the facility took 6 months; all the while, the team worked on ways to implement their ideas into results. To make sure the company could deliver what it set out, it had to obtain a license from the MHRA to create gamma delta T cell therapy products at its clinical manufacturing facility near Glasgow - it finally happened in January of 2015.

Now that the license was in play, TC BioPharm was well on showing the world a whole new way of tackling the burdening issue of a cancer diagnosis.

Securing the Finances

Once TC BioPharma slowly began to form, it needed a key element to develop - money and lots of it.

Thanks to the ingenuity of the idea to approach cancer treatment with a more accurate and somewhat pioneering approach, investors became interested in knowing more about the company.

TC BioPharm went through 12 funding rounds, managing to raise $40.4M. The latest funding round happened in June 2022 from a post-IPO equity round.

A total of 8 investors shared the vision of the co-founders, with Renaissance Capital Partners and Crowdcube as the most recent ones.

Going All-In with the IPO

After securing the finances, the management felt it was time to go public. February 11th, 2022, marked the company’s IPO under the NASDAQ: TCBP ticker.

Circulating 4.1 million shares, with a price range from $4.25 - $4.25 per share, the company expects to raise a volume of $17.5M that would be used to fund future research on phase 2b-into-pivotal (phase 3) trial for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia, and ImmuniStim for the treatment of viral infections such as COVID-19.

Moreover, TC BioPharma will also use part of the proceeds to continue the research and development of GD-T CAR therapies to treat solid cancers and finance its operating overhead costs, capital expenditure, and limited repayment of convertible loan notes.

No Other Does It Like TC BioPharm

Even though the cancer-treatment industry is packed with companies claiming to do this and that to get patients rid of cancer, the reality is much different.

Using science to advance cancer treatment to offer patients a ray of hope, TC BioPharm paid close attention to what others thought was minuscule.

TC BioPharm thought of the whole process of delivering a product, leaving nothing to chance. Thanks to the team's hard work, the company does its product development, clinical development, manufacturing, and production.

Slowly but steadily, TC BioPharm became a pioneer of the first-ever scalable "off-the-shelf" allogeneic gamma delta T cell therapy platform. The platform helps cancer patients experience fewer side effects, treat more cancer types, and reach a wider audience of patients.

Companies like Dyne Therapeutics, Precigen, and Inventiva don’t even come close to what TC BioPharm tries to do, which is why it has successfully shed the competition without a sweat.

Plus, in April 2022, TC BioPharm wholeheartedly donated funds to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to sponsor World AML Day.

Is A Cancer-Free Future on the Horizon?

The company expanded its area of expertise to 5 global locations, including England and the Netherlands, and is the proud employer of over 100 people, all of which share the same dream and goal of redefining cancer treatment.

Today, TC BioPharm holds its headquarters in Holytown, North Lanarkshire, United Kingdom, with Angela Scott as the COO and co-founder, while Michael Leek acts as the Executive Chairman of the Board. The two are the only representatives of the initial quartet that founded the company in 2014.

The hierarchy of TC BioPharm is different from that of the early set-up, with Bryan Kobel acting as the Chief Executive Officer and Board Director, and Martin Thorp as the Chief Financial Officer and Board Director.

Whatever the future for TC BioPharm, one thing is for sure - they might have changed cancer treatment for good.