Cell therapy weekly: ReNeuron forms new partnership to crack Chinese market
This week: Rodeo Therapeutics secures US$5.9 million to develop small molecule regenerative therapies and AgomAb Therapeutics secures €21 million for regenerative antibodies.
The news highlights:
ReNeuron forms new partnership to crack Chinese market
Rodeo Therapeutics secures US$5.9 million to develop small molecule regenerative therapies
AgomAb Therapeutics secures €21 million for regenerative antibodies
ReNeuron forms new partnership to crack Chinese market
ReNeuron (UK) has partnered with Fosun Pharma (Shanghai, China) to bring their CTX and hRPC cell therapies to Chinese patients. Under the terms of the agreement, ReNeuron will receive US$7.9 million upon entering the agreement, US$7.9 million in operational milestones and up to US$10.5 million at future regulatory milestones, as well as tiered royalties on Chinese sales.
Olav Hellebø, Chief Executive Officer of ReNeuron, said: “We are delighted to partner our cell therapy program with Fosun Pharma, one of China’s largest and most distinguished healthcare companies. This agreement furthers our core strategy to build shareholder value through the clinical development and commercialization of our cell therapy program. China represents a significant market opportunity for our products and we look forward to working with Fosun Pharma to ultimately bring these treatments to the many patients in China who may benefit from them.”
Rodeo Therapeutics secures US$5.9 million to develop small molecule regenerative therapies
Rodeo Therapeutics Corporation (WA, USA) has secured $5.9 million Series A funding to develop small molecules which aim to increase levels of prostaglandin PGE2 to effect regeneration and tissue repair. Research in animals, published in Science, has indicated that increasing PGE2 through inhibition of a degrading enzyme accelerates hematopoietic stem cell reconstitution following bone marrow transplant.
“Tissue damage and degradation play critical roles in the development and progression of a broad array of disease indications, including a variety of inflammatory diseases,” said Sanford Markowitz, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and a founder of Rodeo Therapeutics.
“The ability to stimulate the body’s natural processes for tissue regeneration and repair has broad therapeutic potential in disease settings such as ulcerative colitis and in hemopoietic recovery following bone marrow transplantation.”
AgomAb Therapeutics secures €21 million for regenerative antibodies
AgomAb Therapeutics N.V. (Ghent, Belgium) has secured €21 million in Series A financing to develop growth-factor mimicking monoclonal antibodies that could treat fibrotic, inflammatory, autoimmune and degenerative diseases. AgomAb is based on work conducted by Chief Scientific Officer Paolo Michieli at the University of Torino, Italy.
Michieli commented: “The regenerative and anti-fibrotic potential of HGF has been known for decades, but its translation to the clinic has been challenging. While HGF-mimetic agomAbs maintain the full therapeutic potential of HGF, they display the excellent drug-like properties of antibodies, holding the promise for regeneration of fibrotic tissues in a variety of clinical indications.”
For more weekly cell therapy news, read previous editions of the cell therapy weekly.