Alvine Pharmaceuticals of Palo Alto, CA has garnered $21 million from its first round of venture financing. Alvine is developing a treatment for celiac sprue. Sofinnova Ventures led the investment round with the help of Prospect Venture Partners and InterWest Partners. Cargill Ventures and Flagship Ventures also participated in the financing. Alvine's lead molecule, ALV001, is a protease designed to be consumed with food to detoxify the gluten that triggers the autoimmune response in celiac patients.
"Celiac sprue is a serious yet common immune disease that is triggered by gluten, a component of cereal grains found in most foods sold in the U.S.," said Stanford Professor Chaitan Khosla, Ph.D., who co-founded the company. "While under-diagnosed, as many as one in one hundred individuals suffer from celiac sprue, yet there is no drug therapy available."
- see the release on the funding round