Release Therapeutics Secures CHF 3.3 Million in Seed Funding
2024年8月6日 - 5:00PM
Release Therapeutics (‘Release Tx’ or ‘the Company’), a
privately-held, Swiss BioMedTech company, announced today the
closure of a CHF 3.3 million Seed financing round with private
investors. The financing follows the Company’s first preclinical
results in animal models of metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD).
MLD is a rare genetic disorder of the nervous
system stemming from a deficiency in the lysosomal enzyme,
arylsulfatase A (ARSA); it is most common in toddlers aged 12 to 20
months (late infantile MLD). Tragically, this condition is usually
diagnosed after symptoms appear, making it too late to treat with
available therapies and resulting in most children being unable to
survive past the age of five.1
Release Tx recently formed a strategic
collaboration with the Innovation Unit for Gene and Cell Therapy
(GENOV) at the distinguished Paris Brain Institute to assess the
impact of the Company’s technology in mice presenting symptoms of
MLD. The mice were implanted with an analogue of Release Tx’s Myo-P
device and received ARSA enzyme replacement therapy over three
months. After three months of treatment, the mice showed reversal
of disease progression, suggesting the Company’s technology holds
great promise in treating symptomatic MLD.2
The results were presented by Dr Françoise Piguet,
Head of GENOV, Paris Brain Institute, at the 20th WORLD Symposium
for Lysosomal Storage Disorders (LSD) in February 2024, with the
abstract published in a recent special issue of Molecular Genetics
and Metabolism.3
Release Tx’s CEO, Thomas Mehrling, said, "The Seed
funding raised by Release Tx testifies to the significance of our
collaboration with the Paris Brain Institute and our findings
towards treating MLD. The proceeds will be invested immediately in
assessing the impact of our technology in non-human primates. With
the results expected in autumn 2024, we plan to launch a Series A
raise in the final quarter of this year to submit an IND
application and get our technology into the clinic as soon as
possible."
References
(1) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9885241/
(2) https://www.release-tx.com/post/release-tx-announces-research-collaboration-with-paris-brain-institute-to-treat-metachromatic-leukod(3) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S109671922300389X
About Release Therapeutics
Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, Release
Therapeutics is a privately-held, BioMedTech company developing the
first cell macroencapsulation technology designed to deliver potent
therapeutic proteins beyond the human blood-brain barrier. The
Company’s proprietary technology integrates an implantable
macroencapsulation device with an immortalised myoblast cell line
capable of producing a broad range of proteins for long-term
delivery to the CNS. Innovating at the nexus of biotech and
MedTech, Release Therapeutics is on a mission to treat genetic
diseases of the CNS without gene therapy. The company’s lead
programme is in preclinical development for the treatment of
Metachromatic Leukodystrophy (MLD), a rare genetic disorder that
leads to progressive loss of myelin and typically affects young
children.
For more information, please visit our website:
https://www.release-tx.com/
Contacts
Release Therapeutics SAcontact@release-tx.com
Manage Mind Greece (for Release
Therapeutics)Jessica KourniaktisPhone: (+30)6932254679Email:
jkourniakti@managemind.ch