XENOTHERA, a Nantes-based biotech company of which Avantea is co-founder and shareholder, today announced that it has been awarded 2.3 million euros by the French Government, non-dilutive. This is in addition to a 2.1 million euro grant from the European Union through the innovation and research strand of the Horizon 2020 programme. This funding will enable the company to speed up development of its anti-COVID-19 drug candidate, XAV-19, and to prepare a clinical trial for the treatment of newly hospitalized patients. These amounts supplement the 500,000 euros already raised, and 2.8 million euros from current shareholders to support a programme-wide development drive.
Based on a revolutionary, patented technology for the production of protective polyclonal antibodies that mimic the natural response in humans, the XAV-19 treatment is based on XENOTHERA’s extensive knowledge and understanding of coronavirus infections, which the medical and scientific team has been working on for over four years.
Avantea has played a pivotal role in the development of this treatment by providing genetically engineered pigs used to produce Covid-19 antibodies in their plasma. Trials are currently underway to determine the effectiveness of the immunological response at the Hong Kong Pasteur Institute. Avantea will be working closely with XENOTHERA to scale up production of pigs and progress the drug candidate to the next phase.
Xenothera press release (pdf in inglese nella mail)
