Funding
Cytheris SA, a specialist in immune modulation, has completed a €12 million fourth round financing, in which new investor, CDC Entreprises, acting for France’s Strategic Investment Fund (FSI), participated with existing investors Bioam Gestion (France), Caisse de dépôt et Placement du Québec (Canada), CDC Innovation (France), Crédit Agricole Private Equity (France) and Forbion Capital Partners (The Netherlands).
Marie-Laure Garrigues, Director of Investments at CDC Entreprises, will join the Cytheris board of directors as an observer. “Cytheris has an outstanding team working on the new frontier of immunotherapy, one of the most exciting areas of current medical development,” said Garrigues. “We appreciate the opportunity to support the company's efforts in the critical areas of unmet medical need represented by HIV, hepatitis and oncology.”
The money will be used to accelerate development of the company’s IL-7 (CYT107) clinical programs in HIV, Hepatitis B and C and oncology.
Michel Morre, DVM, President and CEO of Cytheris, said, “This financing provides us with the resources to aggressively advance CYT107 through clinical trials, particularly in HIV and hepatitis.”
“After demonstrating the quality of IL-7 induced immune reconstitution in most patients treated in our HIV studies, we are now focusing these investigations on showing that repeated cycles of IL-7 can induce long term or definitive immune restoration,” added Morre.
Meanwhile, the hepatitis studies will aim to demonstrate production of specific antiviral T cells, potentially offering long term protection against these infections.
Recombinant human interleukin-7 (CYT107) is a critical immune-modulator for T-cell recovery and enhancement. Clinical trials conducted on more than 140 patients in Europe, North America and Taiwan have demonstrated a consistent safety and tolerability profile as well as the potential of IL-7 to expand and protect CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells in various pathologies.
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