Date: 2013-05-28
Type of information: Grant
Company: ugichem (Austria)
Investors: Austria’s Research Promotion Agency FFG (Austria)
existing investors
Amount: €2.25 million
Funding type: grant, equity financing
Planned used: The funds will be used to advance preclinical Ugimer® drug development for immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID).
Others: * On May 28, 2013, ugichem, an austrian developer of a novel antisense drug platform, has raised €2.25 million from public and private investors to advance preclinical Ugimer® drug development for immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID). ugichem was awarded a grant of €850,000 by Austria’s Research Promotion Agency FFG and received an equity financing of €1.4 million from existing investors. Based on its proprietary Ugimer platform ugichem aims to develop a pipeline of antisense drugs addressing unmet medical needs in indications involving inflammatory processes with a current focus on rheumatoid arthritis.
Ugimers are not derived from natural nucleic acids but are based on the peptide nucleic acid (PNA) backbone and carry specific side chains for improved delivery, efficacy and specificity. This innovative design provides Ugimers with biopharmaceutical properties allowing them access to previously inaccessible organs, cells and cellular compartments, including the immune system. Moreover, Ugimers are the first and only antisense drugs that have efficacy in mitochondria.
Therapeutic area: Inflammatory diseases - Immunological diseases
