Amal Therapeutics Secures €29.2M in Series B+ Financing to Advance Colorectal Cancer Vaccine ATP128

Recently, VCBeat (WeChat Official Account: vcbeat) learned from foreign media reports that Swiss biotechnology startup Amal Therapeutics has completed a €21.2 million Series B+ financing round. The round was led by Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, with participation from BioMedPartners, Helsinn Investment Fund, VI Partners, Schroder Adveq, and High-Tech Gründerfonds. Previously, the company raised €8 million in its Series B round in September 2017. With this latest injection, the total amount raised in its Series B round has reached €29.2 million.

Amal Therapeutics, founded in 2012 and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, is a preclinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to developing peptide/protein-based therapeutic vaccines.

The company’s therapeutic vaccine is based on its multifunctional proprietary technology platform, KISIMA®, a novel peptide/protein-based immunotechnology platform capable of producing single therapeutic vaccines for immunotherapy and other treatments, which can be customized for various indications. The platform also features self-adjuvanting functionality, enabling the assembly of three elements essential for generating potent immunity within a single chimeric fusion protein.

Image from Unsplash official website

Currently, Amal’s primary R&D project is ATP128, a therapeutic protein vaccine for metastatic colorectal cancer. Upon completion of the financing round, Amal will leverage these funds to advance ATP128 into clinical development and reach the proof-of-concept stage in colorectal cancer, with Phase I clinical trials expected to commence in the summer of 2019. Additionally, Amal will further develop its proprietary technology platform, KISIMA®.

Regarding this financing round, Madiha Derouazi, Founder and CEO of AMAL, stated: “We are immensely proud of the unwavering support AMAL has received from investors. The €29.2 million raised in our Series B financing has laid a solid foundation for our clinical trial program and underscores the high regard investors hold for the KISIMA® technology.”

Frank Kalkbrenner, the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund’s representative on AMAL’s Board of Directors, added, “As AMAL has evolved, we have been deeply impressed by its team’s execution capabilities. We are also pleased to reaffirm our support for AMAL at this pivotal moment. We believe that ATP128 has the potential to be a game-changer in the field of immunotherapy.”

Established in 1973 and headquartered in Germany, BIVF is a long-standing venture capital institution. As an independent non-profit organization, its mission is to directly advance basic research in the field of biomedicine. BIVF primarily invests in pioneering therapies and technologies, dedicating itself to supporting the most talented young researchers worldwide. By doing so, it aims to enhance the quality of patient care and address medical needs, thereby exploratorily elucidating fundamental phenomena in human life sciences.

BioMedPartners, headquartered in Switzerland, is one of Europe’s leading venture capital firms. It primarily provides private equity and mezzanine financing to early- and growth-stage healthcare and human life sciences companies, with a particular focus on the pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, diagnostics, and medical technology sectors. BioMedPartners’ investment activities are concentrated in Switzerland and neighboring EU countries.

Helsinn is a venture capital firm headquartered in Luxembourg. The Helsinn Investment Fund focuses on investing in private companies with early-stage technologies in areas such as cancer diagnostics and cancer treatment, as well as other fields aligned with Helsinn’s investment interests, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. Guided by Helsinn’s core values, the Helsinn Investment Fund aims to help companies with innovative technologies translate new ideas into commercial solutions that positively impact patient health and quality of life.

VI Partners was established in 2001 as a Swiss venture capital firm, with primary investment focuses on healthcare, information technology, and life sciences. The firm is dedicated to stimulating and nurturing Switzerland’s startup ecosystem and fostering successful enterprises that contribute to the country’s development.

Schroder Adveq, founded in 1997, is a leading asset management firm dedicated to investing in companies that create value through new business models in the technology and healthcare sectors. The firm aims to help its portfolio companies establish and sustain a trajectory of continuous growth, expand their product lines, and guide team development and infrastructure building, enabling them to bring innovative products to market.

HTGF, founded in 2005 and headquartered in Germany, specializes in investing in high-potential startups in the fields of software, media, internet, hardware, energy and automation, life sciences (medical technology, diagnostics, and biotechnology), and chemicals. HTGF manages three investment funds—HTGF I, HTGF II, and HTGF III—with a combined total of nearly €900 million, which have provided funding to nearly 500 startups.