Ethris GmbH said that it has closed a $26.3 million Series B financing round led by Laureus Capital, with proceeds earmarked for continued development of the company’s ETH47 and ETH42 inhaled mRNA based therapies, which are currently in preclinical development. The company also said that Laureus Capital founder and CEO Christian Wawrzinek will become Managing Director and Chief Corporate Strategy Officer of Ethris.
In April 2020, Ethris announced that it had partnered with Neurimmune for development of an inhaled therapy for the treatment of Covid-19. According to Ethris, ETH47 is designed to deliver an mRNA blueprint for type III interferon to the lung and has demonstrated “substantial antiviral efficacy” in preclinical in vivo challenge studies against influenza and SARS-CoV-2.
ETH42, which is also delivered via nebulization, is in development for the treatment of primary ciliary dyskinesia. Ethris says that preclinical studies have demonstrated the ability of ETH42 to restore ciliary function in a zebrafish model as well as in epithelial airway liquid interface cultures. The company is also developing a candidate called ETH 45 as an inhaled mRNA therapy for the treatment of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP).
Ethris CEO Carsten Rudolph said, “Raising this Series B financing represents an important milestone for Ethris and validates the potential of our proprietary mRNA and LNP delivery platforms and the expert team we have built. The significant capital secured from Laureus enables us to accelerate our highly promising therapeutic programs into the clinic as well as capitalize on the tremendous opportunity that our technology platforms represent, and ultimately to deliver life-changing medicines to patients worldwide. I welcome Christian to our executive team and am looking forward to his expertise as we enter the next phase of our growth.”
Wawrzinek commented, “Ethris is a leader in developing highly potent, immunosilent and well stabilized mRNAs. Together with their proprietary, powerful and versatile LNP platform suitable for multiple routes of delivery, Ethris is in a strong position to deliver ‘gamechanger’ therapeutics to large groups of affected patients worldwide. I am very excited to join Ethris on this journey to advance their programs into the clinic and ultimately improve the lives of affected individuals, and I look forward to supporting the leadership team to execute on its strategies.”
Read the Ethris press release.
