Immunotherapy holds great promise for cancer patients and is a dynamic research area. Drug developer Rigontec has succeeded in attracting new investors and raising 15 million Euro for the development of a new immunotherapy-based cancer treatment. The Munich- and Bonn-based firm also starts to gain a foothold in the American market by setting up a new company in the US.
Closing its series A funding round, Rigontec GmbH raised a further 15 million euros from current investors, namely Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, Forbion Capital Partners, High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), NRW.BANK, MP Healthcare Venture Management, Sunstone Capital and Wellington Partners. That means that the company has raised a total of almost 30 million euros.
Increasing business activity in the USA
Furthermore, the firm, which has hitherto been based in Bonn and Munich, has announced the establishment of a new US company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which is intended to complement its German parent and facilitate both ongoing work and future clinical development activities in the US. Funds will also be flowing into a new project in the development pipeline based on RIG-I agonists. This is particularly relevant for tests with the drug candidate RGT100, which, according to Rigontec's director, Christian Schetter, is expected to progress to its first clinical study phase at the beginning of 2017.
Using RNA technology for immunotherapy-based cancer treatment
The RIG-I metabolic pathway is part of the native immune system. It is normally activated to fight against viral pathogens. Rigontec uses RNA-based technology to activate the RIG-I receptor, thus provoking immune responses to attack tumour cells. In addition to its use against malignant illnesses, the approach has also proven effective in the treatment of infectious diseases, the company says. According to Rigontec, the technology also showed anti-inflammatory effect
Source: www.biotechnologie.de (Foto Alex Kraus, kapix.de)