- Highly competitive process led to successful recommendation to provide 2.5M € as a grant plus up to 11.5 M € as an equity investment in Arthex Biotech
- Proceeds will be used to fund the FIGHT-DM 1 project to initiate clinical trial of Arthex' lead candidate, ATX-01, in DM1 in 2023.
VALENCIA, Spain, Oct. 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Arthex Biotech S.L., a pre-clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the investigation of innovative microRNA modulating approaches to diseases with unmet medical needs, today announced it has been selected for an EIC Accelerator award of up to 14 million Euros.
The European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator supports small and medium-sized enterprises, in particular start-ups and spinout companies, to develop and scale-up game-changing innovations. This last call attracted over 1000 applications from across Europe, in all industry sectors. From this pool, 232 were invited to a video-pitch, and from this 75 were chosen for awards, including Arthex Biotech.
The EIC Accelerator will provide Arthex substantial financial support with grant funding (non-dilutive) of €2.5 million for innovation development costs, as well as a direct equity investment of up to €11.5 million, managed by the EIC Fund, for scale up and other relevant costs.
In addition, as an EIC-selected company, Arthex will receive coaching, mentoring, access to investors and corporates, and other business acceleration services as part of the EIC community.
"We are delighted to receive this award at this critical stage in our FIGHT-DM1 project, which will support our program in a real and substantive way. There is a great need for disease-modifying treatments for patients with Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1 (DM1). Our preclinical programme has demonstrated promising results in a mouse model (HSALR) and in cell lines from patients with DM1. Our toxicology programme has not identified any rate limiting toxicology and we are gearing up for a first-in human clinical trial of ATX-01 in DM1 next year," said Dr. Beatriz Llamusi, CEO of Arthex Biotech. "The Arthex team and its partners have put together a robust plan to further our drug development activities and the recognition of the EIC Accelerator lends us the credibility our programme warrants. We are encouraged by the significant interest that public and private investors have shown in our innovative research and drug development program, including ATX-01 and our drug delivery platform which helps position us as a leading developer of microRNA modulating therapies today".
In a statement, the EIC noted, "The companies were selected in a highly competitive process, in which 232 companies were interviewed by juries of experienced investors and entrepreneurs out of a total of more than 1000 applications. The 75 selected companies will together receive close to €400 million of funding in a combination of grants and equity investments." According to Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth: "Recently the Commission has taken a major step in the restructuring of the European Innovation Council Fund with the appointment of an external fund manager. The EIC Accelerator and EIC Fund are now fully operational to provide its unique combination of grants, investments and business acceleration services to Europe's most promising deep tech start-ups. The high interest in the Accelerator scheme confirms its relevance."
About Arthex Biotech
Arthex Biotech is a biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing drugs to treat and prevent diseases in which microRNAs play a role. Arthex leverages its extensive experience in microRNA science and neuromuscular diseases to research and develop potential treatments for diseases with unmet medical needs. Arthex is led by an executive management team with strong scientific and development expertise in the rare disease space, and strong support from public and private investors, including InVivo Capital, Adbio Partners and CDTI-Innvierte.
Forward-looking statement
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" under applicable securities laws that are based on the current expectations and beliefs of Arthex Biotech. Such statements may be accompanied by words such as "aim," "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "possible," "will" and other words and terms of similar meaning. All statements, except for statements of historical fact, are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: (i) sources and availability of third party financing and investments and the projected financial performance of the Company; (ii) the expected development of the Company's business, projects, drug development programs and joint ventures; (iii) execution of the Company's vision and growth strategy, including with respect to future growth; and (iv) new developments with respect to the Company's projects that are currently underway, in development or otherwise under consideration. Drug development and commercialization involve a high degree of risk, and only a small number of research and development programs result in commercialization of a product. Results in early-stage clinical trials may not be indicative of full results or results from later stage or larger scale clinical trials and do not ensure regulatory approval. Forward-looking statements are not guaranties of future performance and undue reliance should not be placed on them. Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from projections of future performance or any result that may be expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Although forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon what management of Arthex believes are reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance or guarantee that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Arthex undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by applicable securities laws. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
For more information on the EIC Accelerator Scheme, visit: https://eic.ec.europa.eu/eic-funding-opportunities/eic-accelerator_en
For the EIC Accelerator Press release, click here: https://eic.ec.europa.eu/news/european-innovation-council-new-wave-deep-tech-start-ups-set-receive-accelerator-grants-and-equity-2022-10-14_en
