The Burrill Report

Swiss biotech Novimmune closed a Series B financing for $66 million that was led by U.K.-based Rosetta Capital with participation by new and existing investors. The new capital will be used to advance its pipeline of next-generation bi-specific antibodies targeting orphan indications in inflammatory diseases and immune-related disorders. The new funding brings total capital raised by the biotech to about $247 million.

“The Company is advancing valuable new medicines by pursuing a three-pillar strategy,” says Jonathan Hepple, partner at Rosetta, who has joined Novimmune’s Board of Directors. The strategy includes a mid-stage candidate that it intends to develop and commercialize on its own and that could lead to a high-value orphan business; a first-in-class anti-inflammatory that addresses broad market opportunities with potential for a strategic partnership; and the application of its bispecific antibody drug platform to selectively inhibit CD47 on cancer cells, which hold promise to benefit a broad range of cancer patients.

Novimmune has seven clinical candidates in its pipeline, including three in mid-stage development. NI-0501, which it plans to develop on its own, is being studied as a treatment for hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis; a human antibody that is being tested in patients with Crohn’s disease; and another human antibody that is being developed to treat primary biliary cirrhosis. It also has an antibody targeting Interleukin 17, a pro-inflammatory cell-signaling protein molecule that is partnered with Genentech.



February 21, 2014
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-novimmune_banks_66m_to_advance_pipeline.html