Advanced BioDesign raises additional €9 million from Xerys Funds

Lyon, France, February 25, 2020 – Advanced BioDesign, dedicated to developing new therapies for overcoming tumor resistant cancers, announces today that it has raised an additional €9M ($9.8M) financing from Xerys Funds to pursue its clinical development.

This is the largest funding raised by Advanced BioDesign following successive fundraising operations since 2013, totalling close to €7.5M ($8.1M). Thanks to Xerys Funds, its long-standing investor, Advanced BioDesign has been able to undertake fundamental work on the mechanism of action for its lead compound ABD-3001 and consolidate knowledge on its anti-cancer properties.

Advanced BioDesign will finalise its preclinical studies and submit a clinical trial authorization to start clinical phase I in AML in early 2021. This orphan disease affects 35,000 new patients every year, mainly elderly people, with a five-year survival rate below 15%; this represented a global market of €800M ($866M) in 2019, with an annual growth of 14%. A strategic assessment by the Boston Consulting Group in September 2018 validated the scientific rationale and confirmed AML as the most appealing indication for Advanced BioDesign.

What makes the therapy unique is its target: an enzyme involved in cell detoxification, particularly in cancer cells. The selective inhibitor developed by Advanced BioDesign’s team is a ‘suicide’ inhibitor, which triggers an irreversible cascade of reactions leading to cancer cells death, including the so-called ‘cancer stem cells’ mainly responsible for relapses and metastases.

“We are delighted to have secured this new investment. It is a clear sign of support and confidence from our long-standing investor,” said Ismail Ceylan, CEO of Advanced BioDesign. “This new fundraising will allow us to reach our ambitions and initiate the First-in-Human administration of our lead-compound in acute myeloid leukemia.”

“ABD-3001 is a therapeutic innovation offering great potential for the treatment of the most challenging cancers,” said Olivier Ossipoff, Xerys chairman. “The preliminary results obtained from in vivo models of cancers with unmet medical needs are quite remarkable and promising for patients. This compound is particularly innovative and perfectly fits our investment criteria and our objectives in medical improvement.”

Legal advisors:

GUILLAUME ROBERT & ASSOCIES – LEXICUBE (Lyon)

BREDIN PRAT (Paris)

IP advisors:

LAVOIX (Paris-Lyon)

JONES DAY (Paris)

About Xerys

Xerys Gestion is a portfolio management company specializing in private equity that puts the business project at the heart of its investment philosophy, in order to support the management of investments at all stages in the growth of their business, from venture capital to maturity. Xerys Funds invest between €10M and €60M in innovative companies in the healthcare, sustainable development and connected technologies sectors.

www.xerys.com

About Advanced BioDesign 

Advanced BioDesign is a French biotechnology company developing an innovative targeted therapy to treat resistant cancers, with a first indication in acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Its main anti-cancer compound, ABD-3001, is a first-in-class suicide inhibitor of aldehyde dehydrogenases 1 & 3 (ALDH1 & 3). The ALDH enzyme allows cancer cells to detoxify themselves by recycling harmful molecules. By inhibiting this enzyme, ABD-3001 causes apoptosis of the cancer cells without damaging healthy cells.

ABD-3001 is currently in the preclinical stage. Advanced BioDesign plans to submit its regulatory file to the French National Agency for Medicines and Health Products Safety (ANSM) in 2020. The company is actively preparing to enter phase 1 clinical trials in 2021.

Founded in 2010 and based in Saint-Priest, near Lyon (France), Advanced BioDesign collaborates with Prof. Régis Costello at the AP-HM (Marseille, France), which is also a base for some of its employees. Advanced BioDesign is supported by Xerys Funds, which has financed its research and development programs since 2013.

www.a-biodesign.com