ErVimmune raises €17 million in Series A first closing to enter clinical development with lead cancer vaccine candidate

Next-generation therapeutic vaccines company also welcomes industry veteran Eric Halioua to board, as executive chairman
 
Lead candidate ErVac01 is a cancer vaccine targeting novel tumor antigens derived from human endogenous retroviruses
 
Lyon, France, January 21, 2026 – ErVimmune, a biotechnology company developing next-generation therapeutic vaccines targeting new families of ‘unconventional’ tumor antigens derived from human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs), today announces the first closing of its Series A financing. The company has raised €17 million ($19.8M) from an international investor syndicate. Existing shareholder Seventure Partners (Paris, France) participated in the fundraising, alongside new investor SPRIM Global Investments (Singapore). This financing will also enable ErVimmune to leverage additional non-dilutive funding from Bpifrance and the France 2030 program.
 
The €17 million Series A financing will drive the clinical development of ErVac01, ErVimmune’s lead candidate, a heterologous vaccine formulation containing a collection of human endogenous retrovirus (HERV)-derived epitopes, designed to cover the majority of the worldwide population in terms of HLA alleles (e.g. >80 % in Asia and >95 % in Europe). By selecting antigens that are shared across patients and tumors, the resulting vaccine can be manufactured as a ready-to-use product rather than a personalized therapy. This is aimed at ‘cold’ tumors such as triple‑negative breast cancer or ovarian cancer, which currently respond poorly to checkpoint inhibitors. The funding will support the execution of a first-in-human clinical trial, a pivotal step toward establishing the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine.
 
"This funding marks a critical milestone in bringing our off-the-shelf cancer vaccine to the clinic,” said Prof. Stéphane Depil, MD, PhD, founder and board member at ErVimmune. “Our approach has the potential to transform treatment options for patients with difficult-to-treat cancers."
 
"This financial backing enables us to accelerate the development of our lead vaccine candidate ErVac01,” said Nathalie Donne, EMBA, CEO of ErVimmune. “We are excited to move forward into our first-in-human clinical phase and to build the foundations for a broader therapeutic platform.”
 
Since inception, ErVimmune has received financial support from Bpifrance, Cancéropôle Lyon Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR). At the end of 2020, life science investor Seventure Partners invested in a seed funding, also backed in 2022 by grants from Bpifrance and ANR, and in November 2023 by €2.5M in a grant received from the EIC Accelerator. In 2024, the company was selected to benefit from support from the Paris Saclay Cancer Cluster (PSCC) and in 2025 from the NETVA program.
 
"We are delighted to continue supporting ErVimmune as it enters this critical clinical phase,” said Isabelle de Crémoux, CEO and managing partner at Seventure Partners. “The company is opening a new frontier in cancer immunotherapy. Advancing ErVac01 into the clinic is a decisive step toward translating this innovative vaccine platform into tangible benefits for patients.”
 
“We are eager to support ErVimmune’s lead program, ErVac01, as it enters its first clinical study,” said Michael Shleifer, founding partner at SPRIM Global Investments. “This financing marks an inflection point in validating ErVimmune’s proprietary antigen discovery platform, heralding a new era of shared, off-the-shelf cancer immunotherapies. A successful outcome will enable the generation of successive waves of proprietary therapeutic candidates targeting untapped HERV antigens across multiple oncology indications.”
 
Welcoming industry veteran Eric Halioua to the board, as executive chairman
 
In parallel with this financing, ErVimmune announces the appointment of Eric Halioua as executive chairman of its board of directors, strengthening the company’s governance and strategic leadership as it enters the clinical development stage.

Eric Halioua (MS, MBA) is a seasoned biotech entrepreneur and executive with a strong track record in company creation, capital raising and value creation. He has founded four biotechnology companies and is the former president and CEO of PDC*line Pharma, a clinical-stage company developing therapeutic cancer vaccines based on plasmacytoid dendritic cells. Earlier in his career, he was CEO of Promethera Biosciences and co-founded Myosix, which was acquired by Genzyme in 2002.

Mr. Halioua has raised more than €170 million from leading venture capital firms and strategic partners across Europe, the United States, Japan and Korea, and has contributed to several successful M&A transactions and IPOs in the biotechnology sector. He also co-invented the world’s first GMP-approved mobile manufacturing unit for cell therapy products, reflecting deep expertise in advanced biomanufacturing and translational development.

Prior to entrepreneurship, he spent 12 years at Arthur D. Little’s Healthcare & Life Sciences practice, leading strategy, M&A and technology-related engagements for global pharmaceutical and biotech clients. He holds dual master’s degrees in pharmacology and molecular biology and an MBA from ESSEC Business School (Paris).
 
“ErVimmune is entering a defining phase in its development now it has the financial means to advance into the clinic,” said Eric Halioua. “I look forward to working closely with the team and the board to support clinical execution, strategic partnerships and long-term value creation to build a leading immuno-oncology company.”
 
The Series A round remains open to additional investors and will further enable the advancement of ErVac01 in triple-negative breast cancer and ovarian cancer, as well as the development of future therapeutic candidates targeting new HERV-derived antigens in additional oncology indications.
 
Legal advisors:  
Legal advisors to ErVimmune: Fairlight (François Pujol and Emilie Yildiz) www.fairlight-avocats.com
Legal advisors to SPRIM Global Investments: Neptune AARPI (Patrick Douin) www.neptune.legal
   
About Seventure Partners
Seventure Partners is a long-term equity investor that actively supports innovative companies aiming at generating positive outcomes in People, Society, Sustainability and the Planet.
With ~€1bn net commitments under management as of the end of 2024, Seventure is a leading venture capital firm in Europe, investing since 1997 in innovative businesses with high growth potential in two main areas: (i) Life Sciences (biotechnology, health & digital health, nutrition, foodtech, bio-based economy, blue economy (ocean and water), aquaculture, animal, agriculture, sport & wellness) with a particular focus on the microbiome-related innovations in a One Health concept, across Europe,  Asia and North America, and (ii) Digital Technologies (fintech, retailtech, cybersecurity, etc.) in Western  Europe.
Investments can range between €500k-€10M per round and up to €20M per company from early seed stage to venture, growth, pre-IPO and IPO as well as private equity & LBOs.
In the field of Life Sciences, Seventure invests mainly in ‘classic’ approaches, such as drugs, medical devices and diagnostics, and industrial biotechnology/bio-based industry, as well as ‘beyond the pill’ approaches, such as digital health, preventive medicine, well-being, personalized medicine, nutrition and food, with a particular interest in the application of discoveries related to the microbiome and foodtech.
With Health for Life Capital™ funds I, II (€160M and €250M) and its co-investments funds, Seventure is a worldwide leader in microbiome investments with more than 30 companies in its portfolio to date.
www.seventure.fr
 
About SPRIM Global Investments
Founded in 2008, SPRIM Global Investments (SGI) is a privately held investment firm specializing in clinical-stage life sciences and pharma services. SGI’s innovative investment model provides agile and high-impact funding to high-potential biotech companies worldwide, supporting the advancement of clinical trials and accelerating the development of life-changing treatments.
www.sprim.net
 
About ErVimmune
ErVimmune is a French preclinical biotechnology company founded in October 2019 by Prof. Stéphane Depil, an onco-hematologist and researcher at the Centre Léon Bérard and Cancer Research Center of Lyon. A spin-off from the Centre Léon Bérard, ErVimmune specializes in developing next-generation cancer vaccines and cell therapies that target ‘cold tumors’ - cancers that do not respond to current immunotherapies.
The company’s innovative approach is based on identifying and selecting new sources of unconventional tumor epitopes derived from human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs). Because of their similarity to viral protein fragments recognized as foreign by the immune system, HERV-derived antigens are prime targets, shared by different tumors, for the development of cancer vaccines and T-cell based immunotherapies, especially in tumors that respond poorly to current treatments. The first indications represent two major unmet medical needs: triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), accounting for approximately 15% of breast cancer cases worldwide and known for its aggressivity, and ovarian cancer, the deadliest cancer among women globally.
www.ervimmune.com