AffyXell, a stem cell joint venture between Avacta Group PLC (AIM:AVCT) and Daewoong Pharmaceutical, has raised additional funding from existing and new investors to advance its lead cell therapy programme to the clinic.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The UK biopharmaceutical company developing cancer therapies said it plans to use the funding to advance its lead mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) programme and develop its wider preclinical pipeline of cell therapies.
AffyXell's cell and gene therapies are based on mesenchymal stem cells, which include a new type of stem cell therapy referred to as Affimer immunotherapies, which are designed to reduce inflammatory responses to the stem cell therapy in order to potentially enhance its therapeutic effect.
Its shares were down 2.72% at 111.00p in early trade in London on the news.
Proceeds from the fundraising will enable the company to progress through significant value inflection points, it said, as well as support clinical studies to enable an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the US regulator.
Once it has access to the fund, AffyXell will aim to develop a broader pipeline of cell therapies to address a wide range of immune diseases with high unmet needs, and strengthen its platform intellectural property portfolio.
"We are delighted with the continued strong progress made by AffyXell. This joint venture with Daewoong Pharmaceutical is a key strategic collaboration allowing us to demonstrate the potential of the Affimer platform to enhance cell therapies generally, as well as providing an opportunity to address high unmet need in AffyXell's focus area of immune diseases," said Dr Alastair Smith, Avacta's chief executive.