BiPER Therapeutics raises €800,000 in bridge funding to advance its first-in-class BiP-Inhibitor for gastrointestinal cancers to clinical trials

BiPER Therapeutics raises €800,000 in bridge funding to advance its first-in-class BiP-inhibitor for gastrointestinal cancers to clinical trials

Non-dilutive bridge funding marks important milestone ahead of planned closure of Series A funding in 2025, providing means to progress BPR001-615 regulatory preclinical development and prepare for initial clinical trials 

Start-up will be attending 2025 JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco (US) from January 13–16, to showcase progress and meet investors

Strasbourg, France, December 17, 2024 – BiPER Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing its lead first-in-class clinical candidate to treat cancers up to the clinical stage – today announces a bridge financing of €800,000 ($839K) ahead of the closure of its Series A funding round. The financing comprises €448,000 ($470K) in WiSEED convertible bonds, an innovation seed loan of €200,000 ($210K) from French public sector investment bank Bpifrance, and €100,000 ($105K) in the form of a reimbursable advance. 

BiPER Therapeutics is developing a pipeline of first-in-class drug candidates overstressing pathological cells to treat diseases. BPR001-615, the first first-in-class drug candidate about to go into clinical trials, is a selective inhibitor of BiP, a key protein in cancer cell survival and resistance. It has been developed for oral use to treat the more than 50% of patients with gastrointestinal cancers overexpressing BiP. The program is just a few months away from clinical trials and is part of a precision medicine approach to treating BiP-‘positive’ patients using a blood test to measure their BiP level. The clinical candidate has already demonstrated efficacy in vitro and in vivo as a single agent and in combination with chemotherapies and immunotherapies. BPR001-615 eliminates tumors pushing cancer cells to ‘burn out’ through unresolved Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) stress induction by selective inhibition of BiP.

“We are delighted to be able to provide long-term support to such a promising start-up as BiPER Therapeutics. Following seed funding of €1.25 million in 2023, our partnership with Quest for health has meant we can offer all those investors who are seeking to combine performance and impact, the opportunity to invest in highly innovative healthcare companies like BiPER Therapeutics, allowing the companies themselves to keep creating value while they are actively fundraising,” said Mathilde Iclanzan, president of WiSEED.

Over the next few months, the funding secured will allow BiPER to prepare for the Phase 1/2a clinical trial of BPR001-615 and, in particular, to finalize regulatory toxicology studies. By Q3, 2025, BiPER aims to file a phase 1/2a Clinical Trial Application (CTA) in Europe and an Investigational New Drug Application (IND) in the US to investigate tolerability in gastrointestinal cancers, ahead of the launch of its initial phase 2b proof-of-concept efficacy trial in BiP-positive gastric cancers as a primary indication, with huge potential in extending to a broad range of  tumors. With an estimated one million cases worldwide and an annual projected increase of 2%, the gastric cancer market is evolving rapidly. Despite the arrival of immunotherapies as a first line treatment, there is still a significant unmet medical need in this indication.

“We’re extremely pleased with this bridge financing. It gives us the means to progress the final regulatory toxicology studies and to apply for clinical trial authorization and IND for BPR001-615. It also enables investors to have an impact on healthcare via the new funding solution from WiSEED and Quest for health,” explained Mehdi Chelbi, co-founder and CEO of BiPER Therapeutics. “We’re right in the midst of our Series A funding round, aiming to raise €30 million, with a minimum of €10 million. This will fund the initial clinical trial phases and, we hope, enable treatment for the first patients with no other options. I’m looking forward to presenting our ground-breaking innovation and the progress we’ve made to international investors at the JP Morgan conference, both at the panel discussion we’re hosting and when we meet with investors.”  

Legal advisor: Morgan Rapinat

About BiPER Therapeutics

BiPER Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing a pipeline of first-in-class drug candidates overstressing pathological cells to treat diseases with its first two programs to treat cancer patients with no other treatment options. BiPER’s first drug candidate – BPR001-615 – selectively targets BiP, a key protein involved in cancer cell survival and associated with a poor prognosis for patients. BPR001-615 destroys tumors through Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) stress induction.

Founded in 2021 and based in Strasbourg, France, BiPER Therapeutics is incubated at Quest for health. It employs seven staff. The co-founders, Stephane Rocchi, Rachid Benhida, Cyril Ronco and Mehdi Chelbi, an experienced team of medicinal chemists, biologists and experts in preclinical and clinical development, have more than two decades of expertise in oncology. The company won an i-Lab innovation award in 2022 and is certified under the France 2030 investment plan. It secured funding of €1.25 million in 2022 via WiSEED, Bpifrance and the Grand Est region.www.biper-tx.com