Key Investor Signals
CEO previously built and sold a clinical-stage biotech
Andrew Bartynski co-founded ANA Therapeutics and served as COO before Nasdaq-listed NeuroBo Pharmaceuticals acquired the company in December 2020.
Raised a $9.1M seed round in June 2026.
Kopra Bio raised $9.1 million from investors including , Paul Graham, Metaplanet, Pioneer Fund, Mythos Ventures, and the PNOC Foundation.
Nature Communications data showed 90%+ long-term survival in treated mice.
In an orthotopic glioblastoma model, more than 90% of treated mice survived long term. Cured mice later rejected a second tumor, indicating durable tumor-specific immunity.
Other Positive Signals
- Won a $100K proof-of-concept award to test three additional cancer models.
- Advised by Melissa Kotterman, co-founder of two viral therapy companies: Nasdaq-listed 4DMT and Pfizer-acquired IGNITE Immunotherapy.
- Joined the Incubator Program in 2025.
- Selected for Y Combinator's Summer 2024 batch.
Team
Andrew Bartynski, PhD
Co-Founder and CEO
- Co-founded ANA Therapeutics as COO, raised more than $6M, and secured FDA clearance to begin its COVID-19 trial within six months of formation.
- Served 21 months as Senior Vice President at Nasdaq-listed NeuroBo Pharmaceuticals after it acquired ANA, directing regulatory filings and clinical trial design.
- Earned a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Southern California in 2016, then co-founded AesculaTech in Y Combinator's Winter 2018 batch.
- Spent two years as VP of Strategy and Operations at the Alexander Shulgin Research Institute, running its mental-health portfolio from discovery into clinical work.
Alexander Haddad, MD
Scientific Co-Founder
- Credited with more than 70 peer-reviewed publications, with over 2,500 citations recorded on Google Scholar.
- Earned his MD from the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine in 2021.
- Neurosurgery resident at UCSF and postdoctoral fellow in the labs of Manish Aghi and Noriyuki Kasahara.
- First author of the paper describing the replicating retroviral vector behind Kopra Bio's platform.
Product
Kopra Bio is developing an intratumoral viral immunotherapy for solid tumors, beginning with glioblastoma. Its replicating retrovirus spreads through dividing cancer cells and makes them produce an IL-15 , turning the tumor into a local source of immune stimulation.
Non-lytic viral delivery
The therapy is injected directly into the tumor. The virus replicates without destroying infected cells, allowing it to spread through dividing cancer tissue and sustain local payload production.
Tumor cells produce the treatment
Infected cancer cells secrete an IL-15 superagonist that recruits and natural killer cells into the tumor. Local production is intended to concentrate immune activation while limiting systemic exposure.
Glioblastoma as the first indication
Kopra Bio initially targets glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer with weak responses to existing immunotherapies. The company plans to expand the approach into other solid tumors after establishing the platform in glioblastoma.
Market Overview
Glioblastoma remains one of oncology's clearest unmet needs. More than 13,000 people are diagnosed each year in the United States, and no drug has displaced as first-line treatment since 2005. Checkpoint inhibitors that changed treatment in other cancers have shown limited effectiveness because glioblastoma creates a strongly immunosuppressive tumor environment.
This unmet need sits inside an established immuno-oncology market. The global glioblastoma treatment market was valued at $4.04 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $7.87 billion by 2033. A therapy that activates immune cells inside the tumor could enter a market with established treatment centers, referral pathways and reimbursement infrastructure.
Estimated new diagnoses each year.
No drug has displaced temozolomide since its approval in 2005.
Projected global market growth from 2025 to 2033.
Worldwide sales generated in 2025, demonstrating the commercial scale of cancer immunotherapy.
Comparable Outcomes
BioVex
BioVex developed OncoVEX GM-CSF, an engineered herpes simplex virus designed to trigger an immune response against melanoma and head and neck cancer. Amgen acquired BioVex in March 2011 for up to $1 billion. It paid $425 million in cash at closing, with up to $575 million tied to milestones.
Viralytics
Viralytics developed CAVATAK, an oncolytic immunotherapy based on Coxsackievirus A21. The virus was designed to infect cancer cells and expose the tumor to the immune system. Merck agreed to acquire Viralytics in February 2018 for A$1.75 per share. The offer valued the company at approximately A$502 million, or US$394 million.
ViraTherapeutics
ViraTherapeutics was spun out of the Medical University of Innsbruck in 2013 to develop VSV-GP, an engineered virus platform for solid tumors. Boehringer Ingelheim acquired ViraTherapeutics in September 2018 for €210 million.
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Sources
This profile was built from public company materials, ecosystem sources, market references, and professional profiles.