On December 25, 2017 Batu Biologics, an immuno-oncology Company dedicated to the development of its clinical stage tumor-angiogenesis targeting immunotherapy, ValloVax, reported the successful closure of a regulation 506(c) equity crowdfunding offering bringing in $1.3 Million in capital to the Company (Press release, Batu Biologics, DEC 25, 2017, View Source [SID1234522764]).
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The proceeds of this offering were initially earmarked for IND-enabling experiments, when the offering was launched on EquityNet in May of 2017. In early November of this year, Batu Biologics announced the clearance of the Investigational New Drug Application (#16296) for the ValloVax immune therapy. Based upon the successful completion of this milestone, the remaining proceeds from this offering will be used to upscale GMP manufacturing in preparation for the Company’s Phase I study and to position the Company to secure partnerships to demonstrate clinical proof of concept for the ValloVax program.
"We would like to graciously thank our shareholders and collaborators for the support of our vision in the development of the ValloVax immune therapy," stated Samuel C. Wagner, President and CEO of Batu Biologics. "2018 will be a landmark year for Batu Biologics with the goal of establishing safety and feasibility of ValloVax in a pilot clinical study in all solid tumors, and to further elucidate the mechanism of action of our novel placentally-derived immune therapy."
ValloVax targets angiogenesis, or blood vessel formation, which is a biological process that is commonly found in all solid tumors. Instead of targeting the tumor itself, which can be a difficult strategy due to cancer’s propensity to mutate, ValloVax trains the body to initiate a cellular and antibody response against several targets associated with tumor angiogenesis. To date, ValloVax has demonstrated strong inhibition of melanoma, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, and glioblastoma in animal models as a standalone therapy. However, by facilitating better drug delivery and lymphocyte penetration into the tumor, ValloVax may be an ideal candidate for combination therapies with some of the latest immuno-oncology drugs.