On April 4, 2022 Priothera, a late-clinical stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of its S1P receptor modulator drug, mocravimod, reported that it has entered a €1.5 million Loan Agreement with the regional Bpifrance in Strasbourg (Grand Est Bpifrance), via Priothera SAS, its French affiliate (Press release, Priothera, APR 4, 2022, View Source [SID1234611386]).
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This R&D innovation loan will be used to further support the clinical manufacture of mocravimod for a European, US and Asian registration-enabling clinical trial with mocravimod in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT).
Brice Suire, Co-Founder and Chief Financial Officer of Priothera, said: "This non-dilutive financing, alongside the funding from the European Investment Bank that we announced recently, will play an important role in financing the development of mocravimod. It will allow us to strengthen our local French team and accelerate delivery of the clinical supply of mocravimod needed for our upcoming registration-enabling global clinical trial. We are very pleased with the confidence shown by Grand Est Bpifrance in supporting the Company in its development program."
Alban Stamm, Innovation Manager at Bpifrance Alsace commented: "We believe that Priothera, with its drug candidate mocravimod, has the potential to enable a major breakthrough in preventing transplant rejection which would provide a tremendous benefit to AML patients undergoing a stem cell transplant. The Bpifrance loan will support Priothera’s key objective of establishing human proof of concept and generating registrational data, allowing the company to create significant socio-economic value in France and beyond that for patients globally."
Mocravimod, a sphingosine 1 phosphate (S1P) receptor modulator which has been previously tested in multiple autoimmune indications, is being developed to enhance the curative potential of HSCT in patients with AML. Moreover, it has shown clinically relevant benefits in an early clinical study in patients with hematologic malignancies undergoing HSCT.