Founded by Irati Beltrán Hernández and Sebas Pronk, Lumox is working towards a future where cancer can be treated with greater precision: destroy the tumor, spare everything else.
“So, are we there yet? Not yet. But we are closer than ever,” the Lumox team says.
Based in Utrecht, the biotech is developing Selective PhotoTherapy, a new generation of precision cancer medicines that combines a tumor-seeking nanobody with a light-activatable drug. The medicine remains inactive in the body until it is activated with light, exactly where and when it is needed, targeting cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue.
Irati Beltrán Hernández takes us inside the next stage of Lumox’s journey.
What first convinced you that cancer treatment could be approached differently?
We are all familiar with the side effects of conventional cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The challenge is that many anticancer drugs are very powerful, but they cannot always be given at the dose needed to completely destroy the tumor because they also damage healthy tissues.
That made us think that perhaps the problem is not necessarily that we need stronger drugs, but that we need to control where and when the drug acts.
That is the principle behind what we are developing at Lumox. Our therapy uses a drug that can be activated by light. After we administer it intravenously, we can then shine harmless light specifically on the tumor and activate the drug there. In other words, we are trying to add an extra layer of control: not only what drug reaches the tumor, but also where and when it becomes active.
What are the main challenges you still need to solve?
The results we have seen in our animal models are very promising, but, as with any therapy, there are limitations. Our approach is particularly suited to localized solid tumors that we can reach with light, rather than widespread metastatic disease.
The next challenge is translating what we have demonstrated experimentally into a therapy that can be given safely to patients. That means manufacturing our drug at the quality and scale required for the clinic, and generating the safety and pharmacology data in larger animals needed to satisfy the regulatory authorities.
Funding is therefore a major part of our current challenge. We are proud of the substantial funding we have already secured (>5M), but bringing a new therapy from promising preclinical results into the clinic requires substantial resources.
Are there any people who have particularly influenced the way you work?
I don’t think there is one particular person I could point to. My way of working has developed through the last ten years of working on this therapy.
Doing a PhD and a postdoc (on this therapy) teaches you much more than the science itself. You learn how to deal with disappointment, how to question your own assumptions, how to keep going when progress is slow, and how to take responsibility for your work. All that can also be applied to entrepreneurship.
I think that combination of perseverance and a willingness to keep learning has shaped the way I work more than any single role model.
What do you value most in the people you work with?
Commitment to the mission.
We are trying to do something ambitious. That requires much more than simply doing a job well. I value people who are genuinely passionate about what we are trying to achieve, who take responsibility, and who are willing to go beyond what is strictly required when the situation demands it.
What advice would you have for young women starting out in science?
My experience in science has been quite positive, and I would not want young women to start their careers feeling that they need to prove themselves more than their male colleagues. There are many opportunities for women in science today.
Where I think things can become more challenging is when you move from academia into entrepreneurship. As a woman scientist, you can sometimes be placed very quickly into the category of “the science person”, with the assumption that you may not understand investment, finance, business development or storytelling.
My advice would be: don’t accept that box.
Learn the things you don’t know. Ask questions. Put yourself in rooms where you are initially the person who knows the least. And don’t feel that you have to wait until you are an expert before taking a step into something new.
I have learned that perseverance and simply being present in the startup environment make a big difference. Over time, people get to see the full range of what you can contribute.
How do you unwind?
At the moment, mostly through my loved ones.
I have a busy life and, between Lumox and my family, I don’t have much time left for hobbies or long trips. But I don’t really see that as something to complain about. I have a beautiful family and a lot of love in my life, and that gives me a sense of balance.
For me, unwinding doesn’t necessarily mean doing something elaborate. Sometimes it is simply being at home, watching a good comedy show or a basketball game.
What comes next for Lumox?
Our immediate goal is to close our next investment round, which we are targeting for early 2027. That funding would allow us to take several critical steps towards the clinic: manufacturing our drug at the required scale, completing the necessary preclinical safety studies, and preparing the regulatory package for clinical development.
And then comes the milestone we are ultimately working towards: treating our first patient.
That is the part that matters most to me. After roughly ten years of working on this therapy, seeing it being administered to a patient would be an extraordinary moment.
Of course, getting there will also mean growing the team and facing a whole new set of challenges. But that is also what makes this journey exciting for us: there is still so much to learn, and we are genuinely looking forward to seeing what challenges come our way and growing through them.
