# VAR2 Pharmaceuticals

Source: https://onco.cc/companies/var2-pharmaceuticals/  
OnCo record `var2-pharmaceuticals` (Company). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

VAR2 Pharmaceuticals develops antibodies against a sugar pattern found on most cancer cells but rarely on healthy tissue, first discovered through a malaria protein. Its first study uses radioactively labelled versions of these antibodies in PET scans to see where they go in people with solid tumours.

## Summary

Var2 Pharmaceuticals ApS is a clinical-stage Danish company spun out of the University of Copenhagen and incorporated in 2012, according to the company. Its founders identified VAR2CSA as the malaria parasite protein that binds oncofetal chondroitin sulfate (ofCS) in the placenta, and the company describes ofCS as a pan-cancer, tumour-specific antigen. Its Vartumab antibodies bind ofCS with high affinity. The phase 0 immuno-PET/CT basket trial VARTUTRACE (NCT06645808), run in Groningen with TRACER Europe as collaborator, gives zirconium-89 labelled antibody fragments F8scFv and C9scFv to people with solid tumours and started in December 2024. The antibody-drug conjugate VTP-03 entered GMP production in July 2025 and is expected in a phase 1/2a trial in 2027. Its first registered cancer trial, NCT06645808, was posted on ClinicalTrials.gov in October 2024.

## Fields

- Kind: Company
- Last checked: 2026-10-29
- HQ: Copenhagen
- Type: biotech
- Website: https://var2pharma.com/

## Notes

- The company website gives no city; Copenhagen is inferred from the University of Copenhagen spin-out and should be checked.
- No financing amounts or investors stated on the pages read.
- Oncofetal chondroitin sulfate has no OnCo target record and is named in text only.
- Company website and history page read on 29 October 2026.

## Sources

- Official website: https://var2pharma.com/
- VAR2 Pharmaceuticals company history: https://var2pharma.com/company-history/
- ClinicalTrials.gov: VARTUTRACE phase 0 immuno-PET trial (NCT06645808): https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06645808

## Connected records

- fronts: [Antibody-Drug Conjugates](https://onco.cc/fronts/adcs/), [Imaging](https://onco.cc/fronts/imaging/)
- technologies: [Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)](https://onco.cc/technologies/adc/), [Immuno-PET](https://onco.cc/technologies/immuno-pet/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/var2-pharmaceuticals.json