When the founders of Tampa cancer research company Morphogenesis asked Jim Bianco about coming in as CEO in early 2021, they told him they were working on a cancer vaccine.

His response?

“Ah, forget it. I’m not interested,” he said, reminding them that plenty of so-called cancer vaccines have failed in the last 30 years.

But when Bianco, who’s had a long career as a cancer researcher and health care executive, looked under the hood at Morphogenesis’ science, he was impressed. The treatment isn’t really a vaccine, but a form of genetic immunotherapy similar to a checkpoint inhibitor, in which bacteria attach to a tumor, alerting the body’s immune system that it’s time to get to work.

“We’re tricking our immune system to think it’s a bacteria, but when they attack it, it’s your tumor,” he said.

Bianco wasn’t the only one taken with Morphogenesis’ research. From 2015 to 2020, the company brought in more than $40 million from primarily local investors — particularly Tampa cardiologist-turned-entrepreneur and philanthropist Kiran Patel and his partners, who collectively own about 70 percent of the company.

The company announced this week that it’s closed a Series B round worth $22.6 million, which will carry it through the clinical trial phase of its research, and potentially all the way to an initial public offering.

Morphogenesis plans to start clinical trials early next year, with Moffitt Cancer Center as the “lead center,” Bianco said. The company has a tentative agreement for accelerated approval for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, he said, which could result in approval by early 2025.

How does a biotech company bring a new cancer treatment to the masses? It starts with the funding. And it could end with a sale, a merger, or an initial public offering. Bianco talked about the options in front of Morphogenesis heading into a pivotal year. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

So this $22.6 million fundraise — how much runway does that buy you?

Eighteen months, conservatively. The 18 months that we start this study at the beginning of next year, that will be the biggest expense. We have very low overhead, even though we have labs; in terms of salaries, we’re on the lower end of that scale. Tampa’s a lot cheaper to live in than Seattle.

When you look at the economy around us, is this a good time to take a company public?

No. So here’s the statistics: Through August of this year, there have been 85 equity transactions raising about $13 billion, and there have been nine IPOs. This time last year, there were 29 IPOs. There were 254 equity transactions raising $35 billion. So that’s where the market is. Right now, the life sciences sector is actually outperforming the overall general market. Let’s see what happens in November. That’s going to play into it. Nobody invests right in front of a major election. It never happens.

Is an IPO the next step?

If the IPO market opens in the first quarter, second quarter of next year, we’re ready for that. What I’m doing right now is predominantly reverse-merger discussions with companies that are struggling, and they’re going to continue to struggle, because the capital markets have shut down for small biotech companies that are illiquid. I think one of those may hit. The last piece isn’t on the radar screen, but ... if we get approached or do a deal with a big pharma company, it may end up being part of a big pharma company.

What would take the biotech scene in Tampa up another level?

Have a technology that comes out of an institution that translates into a company where investors put money in — but those investors are well-known biotech funds. The company goes public, has a great IPO, does deals with pharma companies or gets bought by a pharma company, and then all of a sudden, you hear them say, “That’s pretty cool, these guys knew what they were doing.” And they’re going to flock to look at Moffitt and look at what else is happening in the Tampa area they may have missed.

The reason all this really cool stuff comes out of Boston is every venture fund lives around MIT or Harvard. Same thing with Stanford. They’re constantly talking to the labs they have an interest in. That two-way (discussion) isn’t happening here. So that’s the shift that needs to happen. (Labs) have to cultivate relationships with venture funds.

Most of your funding has come locally. How do you convince people outside this area that this is a company and a scene worth investing in?

It’s a “show me.” You get the data, people will look. If we’re successful as a model, hopefully Moffitt will figure that out. Moffit will have 8% (of Morphogenesis). If we do a merger with the technology that we have coming out of Moffitt, Moffitt will be a shareholder. And they should be. I think that’s a plus for a company, to have a prestigious institution as a shareholder.