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San Francisco, USA and Zürich, Switzerland, 27 January 2021
Endogena Therapeutics Inc., which discovers and develops endogenous regenerative medicines, today announced that it has successfully completed a first round of Series A financing, which was capped at $8 million.
These funds will enable the company to establish clinic proof-of-concept for its lead program for retinitis pigmentosa. In addition, Endogena will advance its age-related macular degeneration (AMD) program to IND, as well as develop additional programs, leveraging the company’s artificial intelligence-driven drug discovery platform.
Matthias Steger, CEO of Endogena, said:
“This Series A-1 funding will enable us to complete first clinical proof-of-concept studies of our novel treatment paradigm for patients with this devastating degenerative eye condition.”
This first round of Series A financing was led by existing investors, Rejuveron Life Sciences AG and DEFTA Partners, with new investors joining the syndicate.
Elona Baum, Managing Director of DEFTA Partners, said:
“As Endogena’s founding investors, we recognise the promise of this technology platform. We’re confident that the depth of experience brought by Matthias Steger, the company’s founder, will stand Endogena in good stead to bring forward novel treatments for patients.”
Christian Angermayer, Chairman of Rejuveron Life Sciences AG, said:
“Endogena’s AI-driven platform combines state-of-the-art stem cell research know-how with small molecule drug discovery expertise, has shown promising signs in a short period of time. We’re convinced that this could result in breakthrough therapies in several indications.”
Retinitis pigmentosa is a group of inherited diseases causing slow and progressive retinal degeneration and loss of vision, for which there is currently no cure. It is the leading cause of inherited blindness, with an estimated 1.5 million people worldwide presently affected.
Endogena’s novel, small-molecule approach is gene-independent, which has significant advantages in this condition that has multiple genetic causes.
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