SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Primmune Therapeutics today announced the initial closing of a $27.4 million Series A financing to advance the development of novel orally-administered, small molecule toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) agonists as therapeutic-adjuvants for acute viral diseases and cancer. The financing was co-led by CAM Capital and Polaris Partners and included new investors Samsara BioCapital and Oberland Capital as well as existing investors McDermott, BioRock Ventures and BioBrit. The Series A financing included the conversion of $7.4 million in convertible seed capital securities. Concurrent with the closing, Amir Nashat, Managing Partner at Polaris Partners and Andrew Rubinstein, Managing Partner at Oberland Capital will join the board of directors.
“This financing will enable us to move PRTX007 into a short-term pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic and tolerability study in humans to be followed by a clinical proof-of-concept study in an acute viral disease setting. We believe that PRTX007 is promising as a unique treatment option for viral diseases and cancer based upon its unique ability to drive an oral dose-dependent systemic poly-interferon response without stimulating inflammatory pathways,” said Charlie McDermott, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Primmune Therapeutics. “We appreciate the support from this outstanding group of investors, and the Primmune team is highly driven to deliver an oral therapeutic that can have a meaningful impact on the treatment and prevention of acute viral diseases as a single agent and in combination with other therapies or vaccines.”
PRTX007, Primmune’s lead candidate, was derived from an extensive internal TLR7 agonist discovery program and has demonstrated sustained dose-dependent innate immune induction in vivo without the production of inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6 or TNF alpha. In vitro, PRTX007 has shown activity against a broad array of respiratory viruses.
“Primmune’s early data has shown the potential for PRTX007 to drive our natural innate immune response to combat systemic diseases,” said Amir Nashat, Managing Partner at Polaris Partners. “Coupled with a leadership team that is rapidly advancing PRTX007 for viral diseases and oncology, we are excited to be part of the next stage of the company’s growth.”
About Primmune Therapeutics
Primmune Therapeutics is harnessing the power of the innate immune system to develop small molecule, orally administered toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) agonists as immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and viral diseases. For more information, please visit: www.primmunerx.com.
