German startup raises $34M for first-in-class complement inhibitor

InflaRx has raised $34 million in a Series C to at least get it through Phase II testing for its lead candidate, as well as to expand its preclinical pipeline. The round included new VCs including Asian investor Staidson Hongkong Investment as well as other undisclosed international industrial investors and family offices.

In June, the Jena, Germany-based company started a Phase II trial of the lead, IFX-1, in complex cardiac surgery patients. This financing will back it through that trial. In January, the company reported Phase IIa data for the same candidate in patients suffering from early septic organ dysfunction.

"InflaRx has made significant progress in the field of terminal complement C5a inhibition, putting us in a lead position, globally. In January, we validated IFX-1 in a Phase IIa clinical trial that provided excellent data," Dr. Niels Riedemann, founder and CEO of InflaRx, said in a statement.

He added, "We will use the proceeds of this Series C financing to develop our lead drug candidate IFX-1 in different inflammatory disease indications with high unmet medical need and orphan drug potential.”

IFX-1 is an intravenously administered monoclonal anti-C5a antibody. It’s expected to be useful in a variety of acute and chronic inflammatory indications. InflaRx also has preclinical IFX-2 and IFX-3 in the pipeline, which target chronic inflammation-related diseases.

In addition to pipeline advancement, the company hopes that this financing will be sufficient to get it into some strategic deal negotiations.

“The proceeds of this financing will enable us to reach multiple significant value inflection points and generate a variety of strategic options," summed up the company’s CFO Arnd Christ.

- here is the release

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