On July 17, 2024 Integra Therapeutics, a global leader in creating cutting-edge gene writing tools to make advanced therapies safer and more effective, reported the company will receive a grant of €2.5 million and equity investment of up to €8 million from the European Commission via the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator program (Press release, Integra Therapeutics, JUL 17, 2024, View Source [SID1234654538]).
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Of a total of 969 deeptech companies, the EC chose only 68 to benefit from the funds in a highly competitive process. The EIC Accelerator is currently the only program that combines grants and equity for emerging European deeptech companies.
Integra Therapeutics will earmark the initial €2.5 million to pre-marketing activities of its FiCAT platform for T cell and hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) engineering to develop cell therapies in rare diseases, autoimmune diseases, and oncology.
In parallel, the compant will generate FiCAT proof of concept data on its first gene therapy, using systemic administration with non-viral vectors through lipid nanoparticles (LNP) to treat a serious pediatric hepatic disease.
The European Commission plans to join Integra Therapeutics’s capital in 2025, which is when Series A is anticipated to close, and it may include up to €8 million to advance the clinical development of the first gene therapy product mentioned above.
"The funding from the EIC Accelerator is a huge impetus for Integra Therapeutics and our FiCAT gene writing platform because it will lead to the development of the first therapeutic product in the preclinical and clinical regulatory phases for a disease with a huge medical need in children that is currently unmet," said Dr. Avencia Sánchez-Mejías, CEO and co-founder of Integra Therapeutics.
"I am pleased to see that 21% of the companies chosen are led by women, which is an improvement over the previous call, although there is still room for improvement in the gender gap in leadership positions in our sector," she added.
Integra Therapeutics will also promote the expansion of the FiCAT platform to extra-hepatic indications. In this sense, the company is planning to award licenses and co-develop new therapies with the goal of allowing the maximum number patients to benefit from this state-of-the-art technology.
Integra Therapeutics was founded in 2020 by Dr. Marc Güell and Dr. Avencia Sánchez-Mejías as a spin-off of the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF). It is headquartered in Barcelona. It has secured the backing of international investors (AdBio Partners, Columbus Venture Partners, Invivo Capital, and Takeda Ventures) and organizations in the health and biomedical sector. It earned My Green Lab sustainability certification in 2023.