Adocia Raises Over $20M to Take BioChaperone Growth-Factor Treatments into Phase I Trials

French regenerative medicines company Adocia obtained €14 million (about $20.07 million) in a second round of financing with new and existing investors. The company will use the funds to carry out clinical development of its lead BioChaperone™ growth factor compounds in wound healing and bone repair. The development of additional BioChaperone-based therapeutics is also on the cards.

BioChaperone is a polymer-based technology being applied to stabilize and increase the efficacy of therapeutic proteins. Adocia is initially focusing on growth factors. The company claims the technology provides spatio-temporal controlled delivery of growth factors, increasing their solubility and activity while protecting against degradation. 

Two lead products are approaching clinical development. BioChaperone platelet-derived growth factor BB (PDGF-BB) is currently in late preclinical development for the treatment of chronic wounds such as diabetic foot and venous ulcers. BioChaperone bone morphogenic protein (BMP) is in late preclinical development for bone-repair applications in areas such as osteoporosis, degenerative disc disease, and non-union fractures. The company states BioChaperones have also been applied to stabilize mAbs and to generate a fast-acting human insulin formulation.

“Based on our current results, we have already established five collaborations among which are three with world leaders in med tech and two with major biopharma companies,” points out Olivier Soula, vp and R&D director. “We are convinced that this unique and innovative system could offer to patients a second generation of protein formulations with an improved efficacy but also with a reduced cost in the treatment of chronic diseases.”