Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), the venture capital investor focused on deeptech and life sciences businesses in the Cambridge ecosystem, has invested in Complement Therapeutics’ €72 Million Series A funding round led by Gimv and co-led by Forbion, alongside existing investor BioGeneration Ventures and new investors Panakès, Hadean Ventures and Seroba Life Sciences.
Complement Therapeutics GmbH (CTx) is a preclinical stage biotechnology company with research laboratories in Stevenage, UK., which is developing novel therapeutics for complement-mediated diseases - chronic, rare, complex, and progressive diseases that occur when the human body’s immune system becomes overly active.
The investment will be used to further develop and complete a Phase 1b clinical proof of concept trial of CTx’s lead product - a highly innovative AAV gene therapy for the treatment of Geographic Atrophy (GA) secondary to dry age-related macular degeneration (dry-AMD). Additionally, funds will be deployed to grow CTx’s laboratory-based activities, and further advance the company’s range of novel therapeutics alongside the development of its Complement Precision Medicine (CPM) platform.
CTx is developing novel therapeutics for complement mediated diseases. Its lead product (CTx001) is being evaluated as a potential gene therapy for GA, a leading cause of blindness. CTx’s team is evaluating potential therapeutic opportunities in several other complement-mediated conditions. The company is also developing a unique quantification methodology, the CPM platform, to enable the quantification of over 30 complement cascade proteins enabling more precise diagnosis and monitoring of disease.
“With a potentially highly differentiated lead asset combined with a precision medicine approach, we are excited by the opportunity to further develop CTx001 for the treatment of GA through to the clinic.” said Dr Rafiq Hasan, CEO and Managing Director at Complement Therapeutics GmbH. “The support of this broad syndicate enables us to generate additional data demonstrating CTx001’s unique and differentiated mechanism of action, with the potential to transform the treatment landscape in geographic atrophy.”
Anne Horgan, Partner at Cambridge Innovation Capital, who will join CTx’s board, said: We are delighted to join Complement Therapeutics’ Series A financing alongside such a strong syndicate. The field of GA is one that we know well at CIC and a clear area of unmet patient need. Dr Hasan and his team’s combination of strong industry experience and deep understanding of complement-mediated conditions means CTx is extremely well placed to develop novel therapies for patients suffering from GA and potentially other complement-mediated diseases. We look forward to working with the CTx team and supporting the company in the next phase of its journey.
Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay
