What Amphera does

Amphera B.V. is a privately held, late-clinical-stage biotechnology company headquartered in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, founded in December 2012 as a spin-off from Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam. The company's lead product is MesoPher, an Advanced Therapy Medicinal Product (ATMP) that combines autologous monocyte-derived dendritic cells with PheraLys, Amphera's proprietary allogeneic lysate produced from clinically characterized mesothelioma cell lines. The lysate provides a broad, standardized repertoire of tumour-associated antigens, allowing the ex vivo-loaded dendritic cells to bypass the immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment, migrate to lymph nodes, and induce systemic NK-, B-, and T-cell responses that can convert immunologically 'cold' tumours into 'hot' tumours. MesoPher has demonstrated an excellent safety profile across multiple trials and meaningful immunological and clinical activity in both malignant mesothelioma (pleural and peritoneal) and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Amphera's clinical pipeline spans Phase II and Phase II/III studies, including the Horizon 2020-funded DENIM trial across six European mesothelioma referral centers (results published in The Lancet Oncology, June 2024), the REACTIVE Phase II in resected pancreatic cancer (published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, July 2024, showing 64% two-year recurrence-free survival versus an expected ~40%), the MESOPEC Phase II in peritoneal mesothelioma following HIPEC-CRS, the ENSURE trial, and the REACTIVE-2 investigator-sponsored study combining MesoPher with Alligator Bioscience's CD40 agonist mitazalimab in metastatic pancreatic cancer (published in Nature Communications, December 2025). The company holds FDA and EMA Orphan Drug Designations for both mesothelioma (granted 2014) and pancreatic cancer (EMA positive opinion June 2023; FDA September 2024), providing up to 10 years of post-approval market exclusivity in the EU on each indication.

Amphera has no commercialized products and generates no product revenue. Its business model is structured around regulatory approval via the EMA and FDA, with MesoPher designed as a personalized cell therapy administered at specialist academic centers such as Erasmus MC; upon approval, the company expects to monetize through direct hospital administration and/or licensing or partnership deals with larger pharmaceutical companies for global commercialization. Manufacturing currently relies on a GMP-compliant ATMP process produced per patient. Key partners include Erasmus MC as founding academic and principal investigator site, the Dutch Pancreatic Cancer Group for the upcoming randomized Phase II/III program, Alligator Bioscience for combination therapy development, and a six-center European consortium for the DENIM trial. Funding has come from regional Dutch investors (Brabant Life Sciences Seed Fund, Lupus Ventures, Reggeborgh Medical, De Mandemakers Groep), a RedMedTech Ventures loan of €350,000, and Horizon 2020 EU grant funding for DENIM.

Name

Amphera

Legal name

Amphera B.V.

Website

https://amphera.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Amphera B.V. is a Dutch late-clinical-stage biotechnology company developing MesoPher, an autologous dendritic cell immunotherapy loaded with the proprietary allogeneic tumour lysate PheraLys, targeting malignant mesothelioma and pancreatic cancer under FDA and EMA Orphan Drug Designations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cell Therapy / Oncology Biologics

NAICS

Biological Product (except Diagnostic) Manufacturing (325414)

SIC

Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836)

akta.pro primary industry

Dendritic Cell & Other APC-based Therapies (HLAAABAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Cell Therapy Developers (Autologous) (HLAAABAA)

Keywords

• Dendritic cell therapy
• Cancer immunotherapy
• Cell therapy platform
• ATMP manufacturing
• Tumor lysate products

Headquarters

HQ city

's-hertogenbosch

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Cell Therapy Product (MesoPher): Amphera is a late-stage clinical biotech with no commercialized products yet. Revenue will depend on regulatory approval and commercialization of MesoPher cell therapy for mesothelioma and pancreatic cancer. MesoPher is produced as a personalized ATMP for individual patients.
2. Licensing / Partnering Deals: Amphera intends to attract financing and partners to fund late-stage clinical trials and bring MesoPher to market. Licensing deals with larger pharmaceutical companies represent a potential revenue pathway, as indicated by CEO statements referencing the need for partners and funding for Phase II/III trials.
3. Orphan Drug Market Exclusivity (Post-Approval): EMA orphan designation provides 10 years of market exclusivity for approved products. Combined with FDA orphan designation, this provides regulatory-protected market exclusivity in both the US and EU for mesothelioma and pancreatic cancer indications.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Amphera develops MesoPher, a personalized Advanced Therapy Medicinal Product (ATMP) cell therapy for the treatment of mesothelioma and pancreatic cancer. MesoPher is manufactured per patient by isolating monocytes from the patient's blood, differentiating them ex vivo into dendritic cells, and loading those dendritic cells with PheraLys, Amphera's proprietary allogeneic tumour cell lysate derived from characterized clinical-grade mesothelioma cell lines. The activated dendritic cells are then re-administered to the patient to induce systemic NK-cell, B-cell, and T-cell immune responses against tumour-associated antigens.

Product overview

Amphera is a late-stage biotechnology company developing MesoPher, a personalized cell therapy platform comprised of two key products: MesoPher (autologous dendritic cells loaded with proprietary PheraLys allogeneic tumor cell lysate) and PheraLys (the antigen component). MesoPher is manufactured from the patient's own blood cells via leukapheresis, isolating monocytes that are differentiated ex-vivo into dendritic cells, loaded with PheraLys, and returned to the patient to induce immune responses against tumors. The company is advancing clinical programs in pleural mesothelioma, peritoneal mesothelioma, and pancreatic cancer, with multiple Phase II/III trials completed or ongoing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MesoPher: Amphera's lead product - a cell therapy comprised of autologous dendritic cells loaded with PheraLys, an allogeneic lysate of mesothelioma cell lines. Used for treatment of mesothelioma and pancreatic cancer.
• PheraLys

Products and services

• MesoPher MesoPher is Amphera's lead product candidate, a personalized Advanced Therapy Medicinal Product (ATMP) cell therapy comprised of autologous dendritic cells loaded ex vivo with PheraLys, the company's proprietary allogeneic tumour cell lysate derived from clinical-grade mesothelioma cell lines. It is administered to patients with malignant mesothelioma (pleural and peritoneal) and pancreatic cancer to induce systemic NK-cell, B-cell, and T-cell immune responses against the tumour.

Quantifiable outcome

• 64% 2-year recurrence-free survival in resected pancreatic cancer (REACTIVE Phase II, n=38) vs expected 40%
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Alligator BiosciencecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 April 2023Alligator Bioscience and Amphera are co-developing mitazalimab (Alligator's CD40 agonist) in combination with MesoPher (Amphera's dendritic cell therapy) in the REACTIVE-2 Phase 1 trial for metastatic pancreatic cancer. The combination leverages the mechanistic synergy between MesoPher (which loads dendritic cells with TAAs) and mitazalimab (which activates those DCs via CD40), based on compelling preclinical data published in Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer. REACTIVE-2 is an investigator-sponsored trial at Erasmus Medical Center. Results were published in Nature Communications in December 2025.
• Erasmus MC (Rotterdam)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerErasmus MC is Amphera's founding academic partner — Amphera is a spin-off from Erasmus MC where MesoPher was originally developed by Prof. Joachim Aerts and colleagues. Erasmus MC is the principal investigator site for all Amphera-sponsored and investigator-sponsored clinical trials including REACTIVE, REACTIVE-2, DENIM, ENSURE, and MESOPEC. Prof. Aerts serves as medical advisor and Prof. Casper van Eijck serves as principal investigator for pancreatic cancer trials.
• Dutch Pancreatic Cancer Group (DPCG)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDPCG, described as one of the world's leading research groups in pancreatic cancer, has committed to participate in the upcoming randomized Phase II/III trial in resected pancreatic cancer. This partnership validates the scientific credibility of Amphera's approach and provides access to a broader network of pancreatic cancer research centers across the Netherlands.
• Six European Mesothelioma Referral Centers (DENIM Consortium)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSix mesothelioma referral centers across five European countries participated in the DENIM Phase II/III trial, including CHRU Lille (France, hosted a DENIM consortium meeting in 2018). The consortium included academic medical centers with expertise in mesothelioma treatment and research.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Sotio: Sotio is developing autologous dendritic cell-based vaccines (e.g., DCVAC products for prostate cancer). A direct peer in the autologous DC immunotherapy space with similar target indications and product format as MesoPher.
• AIVITA Biomedical: AIVITA Biomedical develops patient-specific dendritic cell immunotherapies (including AV-GBM-1 and ovarian cancer candidate ROOT-001) using a similar autologous DC platform approach to MesoPher. Direct peer in autologous DC-based solid tumor therapy.
• Northwest Biotherapeutics: Northwest Biotherapeutics develops DCVax, an autologous dendritic cell therapy for glioblastoma. It is the most direct competitor to Amphera in personalized DC-based cancer immunotherapy, sharing the same core technology class (ex vivo loaded autologous DCs) and similar oncology indications and regulatory milestones.

Emerging players

• DCPrime: DCPrime develops off-the-shelf dendritic cell vaccines (e.g., DCP-001) for hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. An emerging player in the DC-based cancer immunotherapy space using a different (allogeneic) loading approach than MesoPher.
• Lytix Biopharma: Lytix Biopharma develops antimicrobial and oncolytic peptide-based immunotherapies that stimulate innate immunity and may pair with DC-based therapies. An emerging IO peer whose mechanism shares MesoPher's immunological "cold-to-hot" tumor conversion rationale.
• Replimune Group: Replimune develops oncolytic virus immunotherapies designed to convert immunologically "cold" tumors into "hot" tumors — the same mechanistic rationale as MesoPher. An emerging IO peer pursuing combination strategies in solid tumor indications including mesothelioma-adjacent indications.

Broad incumbents

• Adaptimmune: Adaptimmune develops engineered TCR-T cell therapies for solid tumors (e.g., Tecelra in synovial sarcoma). Comparable as a cell therapy company targeting solid tumors with a personalized autologous product, though using a different cell engineering approach than Amphera's DC platform.
• Allogene Therapeutics: Allogene is a leading allogeneic CAR-T developer working on off-the-shelf cell therapies for hematologic and solid tumors. A broader cell therapy peer that contrasts Amphera's autologous approach with an off-the-shelf commercial strategy.
• BioNTech: BioNTech is a major cancer immunotherapy company using mRNA and cell therapy approaches (including neoantigen vaccines and CAR-T) across solid tumor indications. A broader incumbent that overlaps with Amphera's combination strategy in pancreatic cancer IO.
• Iovance Biotherapeutics: Iovance develops autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapies (e.g., lifileucel), a different but related personalized cell therapy modality for solid tumors. Comparable as a commercial-stage autologous cell therapy player addressing similar refractory solid tumor indications.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/amphera

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Amphera