Polyplus-transfection raises €2.5 million in latest funding round
21 Jan 2011
Polyplus-transfection SA, which specializes in the development
of innovative solutions for the delivery of nucleic acids in research
and therapeutics, has announced the completion of a funding round in
which it raised €2.5 million.
This new round brings in new shareholders in Polyplus-transfection,
AIRFI (Alsace Inter Regio Fonds d’Investissement) and Sudinnova,
which have invested €1 million and €0.5 million, respectively.
Two of the company’s existing shareholders, CIC Vizille Capital
Innovation and CIC Finance, also participated in this round.
Polyplus-transfection says it plans to use the funding to upscale its
research and development resources, specifically in the area of new
compounds dedicated to siRNA delivery, which recently yielded
significant and promising preclinical results in lung and prostate
cancer models.
These new research programs are additional to those
in which Polyplus-transfection is already actively engaged in the
area of RNA interference through its numerous partnerships with
other biotechnology companies and university laboratories. In its
joint programs with third parties, Polyplus-transfection acts as a
specialist in in-vivo intracellular nucleic acid transfer, a
critical step in any project to develop a therapy based on RNA
interference.
The additional funding will enable Polyplus-transfection to
significantly expand its science team. It is planning to recruit an
additional 10 researchers and laboratory technicians in the short
term, which will increase the total to 25, out of a total workforce
of 40.
“We are delighted with this funding round, which will enable us
to augment our research program into second-generation flagship
compounds for therapeutic RNA interference — an intense field of
research at this time,” said the chairman of the board of Polyplus-transfection, Dr. Gabriel Festoc.
“We have made effective,
breakthrough innovations at a fundamental stage of the in-vivo
delivery process, which is directly responsible for the problems
encountered by other players in their attempts to transform
molecules (such as siRNA or miRNA) into medicines. In addition,
these funds will enable us to develop better-defined solutions and
to provide many more demonstrations of their therapeutic effects.”
“Polyplus has succeeded in developing its core business, the sale
of reagents, while maintaining a major R&D effort, which means it
now has some very interesting results to show,” said Karine Lignel,
director of participations at CIC Vizille Capital Innovation and
non-executive director of Polyplus-transfection. “This funding round
will enable the company to step up its research effort and prove the
value of the solutions it has developed.”
For his part, the chairman of TechFund/AIRFI, Jean-Michel Barbier,
said: “We are very enthusiastic about our investment in
Polyplus-transfection, not only because its innovative therapeutic
solutions are very promising but also because the company, with its
two-tier business model, benefits from growing reagent sales, which
have brought it close to break-even despite substantial R&D
investments that absorb close to 50 per cent of its revenues.”
Following the completion of this funding round, AIRFI and
Sudinnova join the ranks of Polyplus-infection’s shareholders,
alongside the company’s historic investors — CIC Vizille Capital
Innovation, CIC Finance and Promelys Participations.