Genflow Biosciences PLC (LSE:GENF), which is carrying out research into healthy ageing, has secured up to €3.375mln in non-dilutive funding.
It comes in the form of a grant from the regional government of Wallonia, in southern Belgium, and was awarded to the company’s local subsidiary that will be paid in half-yearly tranches starting with €767,253.
The total cash injection will cover the costs for two years of the pre-clinical research and development programme for its AAV/SIRT6 gene therapy, which is developed to treat progeria, a form of premature ageing.
Chief executive Dr Eric Leire said he was "delighted" to receive the grant, adding: "Access to non-dilutive public funding is highly prized and much sought-after, the support from Service Public de Wallonie is a significant advantage to Genflow and will support our R&D efforts while helping us to maintain relatively low operating costs."
In January, Genflow became the first-ever longevity-focused biotech to float in Europe when it joined the London Stock Exchange’s standard list.
An oversubscribed placing of shares has raised €4.4mln and ascribed an initial valuation of €37mln to the fledgling business.
In the US, a new industry is growing up around companies developing treatments designed to allow people to enjoy a healthy old age.
Billionaire entrepreneurs Jeff Bezos and Peter Thiel have invested heavily, while the race to find life-enhancing treatments has spawned such R&D-based companies as Unity Biotechnology, Samumed, Bioage and Frequency Therapeutics.
Genflow’s decision to list on the London Stock Exchange, rather than taking the show to the Nasdaq exchange that has bred the generations of big biotechs, is a deliberate move.
Chief executive Leire told Proactive: “It was very important to me to capture the open field in Europe.”