Tough financial times in the research field demand some outside-the-box thinking. For REGiMMUNE, it also helped to have some outside-the-U.S. connections.
The biotech, which has one foot in the U.S. and another in Japan, has won two grants totaling a hefty $12 million to back two preclinical research programs. The Japan Science and Technology Agency and the National Institute of Biomedical Innovation in Japan provided the money to REGiMMUNE to support the developer's work on ToleroVax (RGI-2001), a new immunosuppressant for Graft-versus-Host Disease, and reVax drug for cedar allergy.
"The substantial funds that REGiMMUNE is receiving from these two prestigious organizations emphasize the importance of alternative financing opportunities that are available to us, despite the current worldwide economic situation," said Haru Morita, president and CEO of the company. The company has been working with a platform technology dubbed MultiVax, which induces antigen-specific immune tolerance via induction of Tregs, a T-cell subset that plays a central role in controlling immune responses to self-antigens and pathogens when administered at the time of exposure to disease-causing antigens.
Earlier this year REGiMMUNE announced that it had raised $8 million in a Series B. NIF SMBC Ventures, CSK Venture Capital, Japan Asia Investment and Yasuda Enterprise Development all participated in the round.
- check out the press release