EvlaBio secures €21 million in seed funding
EvlaBio closed a €21 million seed funding to complete preclinical development of a monoclonal antibody for the treatment of left ventricular hypertrophy in the setting of chronic kidney disease. The Swiss German life science company is focused on developing first-in-class therapeutics for cardiovascular and cardiorenal diseases.
Founded with a mission to address high unmet medical need in the cardiorenal field, Swiss German biotech company EvlaBio is developing a targeted treatment for patients suffering from Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) with limited therapeutic options. The company’s lead asset is a novel monoclonal antibody designed to inhibit the pathological FGF23/ FGFR4 cardiac signaling axis — a critical driver of cardiac remodeling in patients with CKD.
“Despite recent advances, the clinical need in Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in the context of CKD remains significant, with high prevalence and substantial negative impact on patients’ outcomes. Even with improved management of hypertension and anemia, LVH often persists or even progresses in CKD patients”, said Wenzel von der Heydte, CEO & Co- Founder of EvlaBio. “EvlaBio’s approach is unique in its ability to directly target a key pathway on the cardiomyocyte level. This new therapeutic avenue has the potential to improve lives of millions of patients.”
The program originates from Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC), a company established in 2008 by the technology transfer organization Max Planck Innovation, where it has been developed in collaboration with KHAN Technology Transfer Fund I GmbH & Co KG (KHAN-I). EvlaBio is headquartered in Switzerland where also CEO Wenzel von der Heydte is based.
“Blocking cardiac FGF23/FGFR4 overdrive has the strong potential to become a very promising treatment option for millions of patients facing a high risk of cardiac remodeling and progression to heart failure in CKD,” said Thomas Kirmeier, COO & Co- Founder of EvlaBio. “Heart failure is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in this patient population and our therapeutic approach offers a promising strategy to modify disease progression at its root.”
The seed round was led by Kurma Partners, AdBio Partners, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, NRW.Venture (NRW.BANK) and HTGF, and will enable EvlaBio to complete preclinical development and progress towards IND-enabling studies.
(Press release / SK)