SciRhom Secures EUR 63 Million Series A Financing Round to Accelerate iRhom2-targeting Therapies in Autoimmune Diseases
2024年7月9日 - 3:00PM
The upsized and oversubscribed Series A financing round will be
used to drive the lead development program toward clinical
proof-of-concept and to broaden the therapeutic value of the
proprietary iRhom2 strategy.
Munich, Germany, July 9, 2024 – SciRhom GmbH, a
biopharmaceutical company pioneering the development of
first-in-class therapeutic iRhom2 antibodies, announced today the
closing of a EUR 63 million (USD 70 million) Series A financing
round. The round was co-led by Andera Partners, Kurma Partners,
Hadean Ventures, MIG Capital, and Wellington Partners, with
participation from new investor Bayern Kapital and existing
investors including High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and PhiFund
Ventures from New York, USA. The new funds will be used to
accelerate and broaden the impact of the company’s innovative
therapeutic strategy in autoimmune disorders. The first clinical
study evaluating SR-878, a highly specific monoclonal antibody for
iRhom2, is expected to start dosing in the second half of 2024.
SciRhom was founded with the mission to provide a new treatment
paradigm for autoimmune diseases and potentially other indications
by selectively addressing TACE/ADAM17, a master switch for various
autoimmune disease-relevant signaling pathways, via iRhom2. The
SciRhom team collaborated closely with co-founders Prof. Carl
Blobel and Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), the world’s leading
academic medical center specialized in Rheumatology and
musculoskeletal health, where Prof. Blobel serves as Director of
the Arthritis and Tissue Degeneration Program. He has made seminal
contributions to the understanding of how iRhom2 controls the
activity of TACE/ADAM17 in inflammation and autoimmune diseases.
SciRhom designed its most advanced development candidate SR-878 to
simultaneously block several pro-inflammatory and disease-driving
pathways, including TNF-alpha, IL-6R, and EGFR signaling, while
preserving other vital functions dependent on TACE/ADAM17.
This unique ability to attack multiple cytokines and to
potentially promote immune tolerance through restoring beneficial
TNFR2 signaling, and regulatory T-cell expansion promises to have a
transformative effect in patients across a wide range of autoimmune
diseases. Moreover, the selective targeting of iRhom2 is expected
to have a favorable safety profile.
“Since its foundation, SciRhom has applied rigorous science to
establish a leading position in iRhom2-targeting biopharmaceuticals
including a comprehensive IND/CTA-enabling data and CMC package and
strong patent protection. Now is the time to shift gears and
accelerate our novel and potentially groundbreaking therapeutic
strategy toward clinical proof-of-concept and beyond to reach
patients in need of better autoimmune treatments,” commented
co-founder Dr. Jens Ruhe, Managing Director & COO of
SciRhom.
Based on positive preclinical data sets generated in vitro and
in established animal models of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and
inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), SciRhom has advanced its first
program to a Phase 1-ready stage. As announced on June 12th, 2024,
the first CTA approval was achieved paving the way for initiating a
first clinical study in Austria in the second half of 2024. The
study aims to evaluate safety in healthy volunteers and provide
initial evidence of clinical activity in the second part of the
study.
Dr. Jan Poth, Managing Director & CEO of SciRhom added: “We
are excited to have attracted such a high-caliber international
consortium of investors and appreciate our existing shareholders
backing SciRhom in this crucial period of its development. We look
forward to collaborating with our new as well as existing partners
and board members to bring a differentiated therapeutic option to
patients and address the unmet medical need for much more effective
and safe treatments for autoimmune disorders.”
“We are delighted to have supported SciRhom from its inception
all the way to CTA approval and are now looking forward to working
with the new investors to take SciRhom's lead antibody into the
clinic,” commented Hans-Ulrich Rabe, current Chairman of the
Advisory Board and one of the four founding investors who jointly
invest in biotech start-ups via their investment platform Ventura
Ace.
In conjunction with this investment, Dr. Olivier Litzka from
Andera Partners, Dr. Peter Neubeck from Kurma Partners, Dr.
Georgina Askeland from Hadean Ventures, Dr. Fei Tian from MIG
Capital and Dr. Varun Gupta from Wellington Partners will join
SciRhom’s Board of Directors.
They together stated “iRhom2 is a key driver of inflammation and
SR-878 offers a first-in-class opportunity for multi-pathway
inhibition as well as promoting immune and tissue homeostasis. This
approach has a transformative potential for patients with
autoimmune diseases that are currently difficult to treat with
existing drugs. SciRhom is led by a highly experienced and
dedicated team of people who we strongly believe will be able to
drive SR-878 to clinical validation.”
The team of SNP Schlawien Partnerschaft led by Dr. Thomas Schmid
acted as legal advisor to SciRhom in the transaction.
About iRhom2TACE (TNF-alpha converting enzyme,
also known as ADAM17) controls several major signaling pathways,
including TNF-alpha, IL-6R, and EGFR signaling. TACE is therefore
widely accepted as a potential target to block pro-inflammatory
pathways, but direct inhibition of TACE causes severe side effects.
The more recent discovery that iRhom2 (inactive Rhomboid 2, RHBDF2)
simultaneously and very specifically regulates the TACE-dependent
release of TNF-alpha and other pro-inflammatory molecules from
immune cells provides the exciting opportunity to target the
disease-driving activities of TACE while preserving its other vital
functions. Given the pivotal role of iRhom2, numerous new research
studies have recently highlighted the therapeutic potential of
targeting iRhom2 to treat immunological and inflammatory diseases
and beyond, including oncological, infectious, and metabolic
diseases.
About SciRhomAt SciRhom, we are translating
world-leading expertise in the TACE/ADAM17 pathway and its central
role in autoimmunity and other indications into breakthrough
biopharmaceuticals. We are developing proprietary and
first-in-class iRhom2-targeting therapies and are accelerating our
lead antibody program SR-878 into and through clinical development.
With strong support from international lead investors Andera
Partners, Kurma Partners, Hadean Ventures, MIG Capital, Wellington
Partners, as well as Bayern Kapital and current shareholders,
SciRhom aims to push the boundaries in autoimmune medicine.
For further information, please visit www.SciRhom.com
Contact
SciRhom GmbHDr. Jan Poth (Managing Director
& CEO)Email: info@SciRhom.com
Valency CommunicationsMario Brkulj
Email: mbrkulj@valencycomms.eu
- SciRhom Leadership Team (2024)
- 240709_SciRhom_Series_A_Financing_FINAL