Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium, 2023/06/20: Cellaïon is a biotechnology company based in Mont-St-Guibert, active in the field of liver regenerative advanced therapy, an area of excellence in the life sciences industry in Wallonia. Its flagship product HepaStem®, in advanced clinical development, targets severe liver diseases, and in particular Acute on Chronic Liver Failure (ACLF)1.
Shinsei Capital Partners (SCP), a Japanese VC firm specialized in cutting edge biotechnologies for patients, the syndicate of venture capital investors in Cellaïon, with the existing investors, Truffle Capital, Wallonie Entreprendre (WE) and Newton Biocapital reinforcing their participation in Cellaïon.
This financing will further support the ongoing phase 2b trial of HepaStem® in chronic liver disease patients suffering from life-threatening acute liver failure.
“The investment of Shinsei Capital Partner (SCP), and the reinforced participation of Truffle Capital, Wallonie Entreprendre (WE) and Newton Biocapital is a great sign of the confidence in the capacity of Cellaïon to generate the breakthrough expected in the field of regenerative liver medicine. It will allow us to expand our activities in Asia in addition to Europe and the US, where physicians and patients are also expecting with deep interest the development of Hepastem® “ says the founder Etienne Sokal, MD/PhD, Vice Chairman and CEO of Cellaïon.
Mr Tetsuya Kurihara, Partner at SCP, added “We are thrilled to be a part of Cellaïon. The team has extensive experiences and broad capabilities in both clinical and business perspectives. We believe their lead product HepaStem® could be a breakthrough drug that offers a new approach to life-threatening liver diseases for which liver transplantation is currently the only treatment option.”
The Chairman of Cellaïon, Philippe Pouletty, MD, CEO of the lead investor Truffle Capital, added: The board is very pleased to welcome Tetsuya Kurihara as a new board member and to start working in close collaboration with SCP for the success of Cellaïon and future developments. The arrival of SCP will reinforce and accelerate our development of this potentially life-saving cell therapy.”
Cellaïon is in advanced stage clinical development and plans to reach market approval end of 2025 for this first indication, subject to positive clinical trial results and regulatory market approval.
*1 About ACLF
ACLF is an acute hepatic failure leading secondarily to multi-system failure (i.e., other organs such as kidneys, heart, brain, lungs). Mortality exceeds 50% in the short term. HepaStem® brings hope to counter this hyper-inflammatory condition and to significantly improve the survival of these patients. There is currently no therapeutic alternative, and emergency liver transplantation remains largely inaccessible for these patients
About Cellaïon SA and HepaStem®
Cellaïon is a Biotechnology company created in March 2021 and established in the Walloon biotechnological valley of cell therapy, in Mont-St-Guibert, Belgium.
Cellaïon develops cellular therapy using the anti-inflammatory and regenerative signaling properties of liver stem cells.
Its technology is protected by a wide range of patents resulting from academic research at UCLouvain (Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium) and its own research and development.
The leading indication, namely multi-organ failures that complicate the loss of liver function – Acute on Chronic Liver Failure – ACLF – is a fatal disease for which no treatment is currently available.
HepaStem® acts directly on the cells making up the inflammatory reaction and on the signaling pathways of hepatic regeneration. By restoring liver function, secondary failures of other organs also recover their functional capacity.
The company is in advanced clinical development after successfully passing safety studies. More than one hundred patients have already received HepaStem®. Cellaïon has developed a manufacturing method allowing HepaStem® to be administered by a simple intravenous infusion with perfect tolerance.
The capital of Cellaïon is held by Fund+, Sofipôle, WE, Truffle Capital, Newton Biocapital, Brabant Walloon Invest, 6K Venture Capital as well as by Belgian and German private shareholders.
Contact informations :
Cellaïon SA
info@cellaïon.com
www.cellaïon.com
Tel: +32 (0)10 39 43 00
