Tokyo's Newsight backs Barcelona cancer startup Aptadel in Spain-first deal
What's the deal? Newsight Tech AngelsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → (NTA), a Tokyo-based life-sciences investor, has taken an angel stake in Aptadel TherapeuticsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Barcelona biotech developing aptamer-based drugs for childhood cancer. It is NTA's first investment in a Spanish company.
What's the endgame? Aptadel, a 2020 spin-off from the sarcoma research group at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research InstituteDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → (IDIBELL), builds aptamer drug conjugates (ApDC). Its RNA aptamer targets EphA2, common on tumour cells, to deliver therapeutic molecules such as siRNA inside them.
Lead candidate ADEL-101 is an aptamer-siRNA conjugate aimed at EWSR1:FLI1, the fusion gene driving Ewing sarcoma and long seen as undruggable. The company reports promising results in cell and animal models and is working toward regulatory studies and clinical trials.
Why now? Ewing sarcoma is a rare bone and soft-tissue cancer that mostly affects children and young adults. With a small patient population, large drugmakers have had little incentive to develop treatments, leaving options essentially unchanged for decades.
Why it matters: The modular ApDC platform could extend beyond Ewing sarcoma to other rare cancers. NTA said Aptadel's technology, plus a development structure linking researchers, patient groups, and companies, drove its decision.
NTA plans to support Aptadel through a planned Series A and into clinical trials, and to help find partners in Japan and Asia. Its Tomomichi Chonan led sourcing, technical review, and talks with management.
"The future of biotechnology will be built through collaboration that crosses borders," said NTA chief executive officer Toru Jay Seo. He added that Spain has "world-class research infrastructure and a deep ecosystem to commercialise it." (translated from Japanese)
The signal: The deal lands as Spain's biotech sector hits a funding record. Per a June 2026 report from the Spanish Bioindustry Association (AseBio), Spanish biotechs raised €408 million in 2025, up 125% from €181 million a year earlier, across 59 deals. Of that, €302 million came from 12 deals involving foreign investors — a sign Spanish biotech is drawing international capital, not just domestic funds.
Image credit: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
