In times when it is extremely difficult to access fresh capital - especially for pre-revenue research and development (R&D) activities - it is only the very best companies that succeed.
One such company is Avacta (AVCT) , which today announced that its AffyXell Therapeutics JV with Daewoong Pharmaceuticals, had raised further funding from existing and new investors to advance its lead mesenchymal stem cell programme, and to develop its wider pipeline of treatments.
This new class of drug is designed to produce Affimer proteins in the body, which reduce side-effects including potential inflammatory or autoimmune responses that patients may experience when undergoing stem cell therapy.
The funds will be used to:
1) Support Investigational New Drug (IND) enabling studies, which will underpin a regulatory filing to take its lead candidate into human trials.
2) Allow AffyXell Therapeutics to develop a broader pipeline of therapies to address a wide range of immune diseases with high unmet needs, and to reinforce its IP portfolio.
CEO Alastair Smith commenting: "We are delighted with the continued strong progress made by AffyXell Therapeutics, Co., Ltd.. This JV with Daewoong Pharmaceuticals is a key strategic collaboration allowing us to demonstrate the potential of the Affimer platform to enhance cell therapies generally, as well as providing an opportunity to address high unmet need in AffyXell's focus area of immune diseases."
In terms of materiality, it is far too early at this stage to gauge the possible financial impact.
But its not too early to say that stem cell treatments and auto-immune diseases are huge markets which could propel Avacta’s patented Affimer technology into the BioPharma big league if its trials are successful.