CTx-001

BioGeneration Ventures (BGV) said Thursday that it closed the BGV V fund at €150 million ($168 million) and that it plans to invest in around 12 early-stage European companies focused on drug discovery and development. According to BGV, the fund was oversubscribed with "strong demand" from existing backers such as Eli Lilly, Novo Holdings and Bristol Myers Squibb, as well as new investors, all of whom are either large financial institutions or global life sciences companies."We are delighted that several leading global pharmaceutical companies share our conviction in the potential of early-stage European biotechs by investing in BGV V," said managing partner Edward van Wezel. He explained that we are "positioned to support our portfolio companies and their founders with the capital and expertise they need to progress projects from discovery to clinical proof-of-concept."Largest fund yetBGV said the fund – its largest to date, bringing its total fundraise so far to over €400 million ($449 million) – is dedicated to early-stage ventures, company creation and seeking out therapeutic innovations that arise from "differentiated science and are supported by convincing experimental data."The company says its portfolio successes include Acerta Pharma, which developed the blood cancer treatment Calquence and was subsequently acquired by AstraZeneca in 2021. More recently, BGV-backed biotech Synaffix, which focuses on antibody-drug conjugates, was bought by Lonza for €160 million ($180 million).BGV's current portfolio includes Azafaros, whose candidate focusing on certain rare lysosomal storage disorders in children recently entered Phase II; and Dualyx, which raised €40 million ($45 million) to progress the autoimmune programme DT-001, as well as its pipeline of Treg candidates. Meanwhile, Complement Therapeutics, which received its initial funding from BGV in 2021, recently raised €72 million ($81 million) in a Series A round to continue clinical development of its lead product CTx001, an AAV gene therapy for the treatment of geographic atrophy secondary to dry age-related macular degeneration.

CTx001 is intended to treat geographic atrophy secondary to dry age-related macular degeneration. Credit: Alexander Gray from Pixabay. Germany-based Complement Therapeutics (CTx) has received €72m in Series A financing for advancing new therapies targeting complement-mediated diseases. The funding round was co-led by Belgian-based private equity and venture capital fund Gimv, and by existing investor Forbion. Other participants included BioGeneration Ventures, Panakès Partners, Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), Hadean Ventures and Seroba Life Sciences. CTx will use the funding to continue the development, as well as to conclude a Phase Ib clinical proof of concept of the AAV gene therapy CTx001. CTx001 is intended for the treatment of geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to dry age-related macular degeneration. It is expected to have the potential to offer superior efficacy compared to competitive drugs, as well as reduce the burden of treatment among patients through a “one and done” approach. The company will also use the funds to expand its laboratory-based activities at Stevenage in the UK, and assess its assets for non-ocular indications while developing the new complement precision medicine platform. CTx CEO and managing director Dr Rafiq Hasan said: “With a potentially highly differentiated lead asset combined with a precision medicine approach, we are excited by the opportunity to further develop CTx001 for the treatment of GA through to the clinic. “The support of this broad syndicate enables us to generate additional data demonstrating CTx001’s unique and differentiated mechanism of action, with the potential to transform the treatment landscape in geographic atrophy.” Michaël Vlemmix from Gimv, Rob Woodman from Panakès, Anne Horgan from CIC and Roger Franklin from Hadean Ventures will join CTx’s board as new members. Cell & Gene Therapy coverage on Pharmaceutical Technology is supported by Cytiva. Editorial content is independently produced and follows the highest standards of journalistic integrity. Topic sponsors are not involved in the creation of editorial content. Free Whitepaper Optimise your cell therapy process: a guide to cell thawing Typically carried out at the point of care, errors in cell therapy thawing could compromise treatment efficacy, leading to significant patient impact as well as high costs and a compromised reputation for the product’s developer. This guide addresses how cell thawing has historically developed into the new techniques used today, along with the physical and biological implications of key metrics and components such as warming rate and ice structure. Also included are reviews of key studies from scientific literature and a consideration of the interactions between cooling and warming rates, as applicable to cell and gene therapies. By Cytiva Thematic By downloading this case study, you acknowledge that GlobalData may share your information with Cytiva Thematic and that your personal data will be used as described in their Privacy Policy