Date: 2015-08-24
Type of information: Grant
Company: TRUST project ( Txcell (France) Provepep (France) University Hospital La Pitié Salpêtrière (France) Quinze-Vingts Hospital Center of ophthalmology (France)
Investors: FUI (Fond Unique Interministériel - a French program supporting collaborative research projects)(France)
Amount: € 1.28 million
Funding type: grant
Planned used: The TRUST project (TRegs in Uveitis STudy) will first focus on the process development of Col-Treg, TxCell’s autologous collagen type II specific Treg immunotherapy product for the treatment of autoimmune uveitis. To optimize the production process of Col-Treg, TxCell has selected Provepep, a company specialized in the manufacturing and formulation of synthetic peptides under good manufacturing practices (GMP). Provepep will bring innovative solutions based on the use of synthetic immuno-peptides specific to type II collagen to improve the quality of Col-Treg. The second focus of the TRUST project will be a first-in-man clinical study for severe and refractory autoimmune uveitis patients, scheduled to start in 2016 as previously disclosed. TxCell will be the sponsor of the study. TxCell has also appointed to the consortium two European leading ophthalmology centers in Paris. These centers will be represented by Pr. Barham Bodaghi at the hospital La Pitié Salpêtrière (APHP) and by Dr. Marie-Hélène Errera at the Quinze-Vingts hospital center of ophthalmology. TxCell’s Col-Treg has been classified as an Advanced Therapy Medicinal Product by the European Medicine Agency (EMA). Col-Treg has shown very promising preclinical efficacy and tolerability data in models of autoimmune uveitis. Col-Treg has also received an Orphan Drug Designation for the treatment of non-infectious (autoimmune) uveitis from the EMA in December 2014.
Others: * On August 24, 2015, TxCell, a biotechnology company developing innovative, personalized T-cell immunotherapies using antigen specific regulatory T-cells (Ag-Tregs) for severe chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, announced that the French government’s Unique Interministerial Fund (FUI) has granted € 1.28 million to the TRUST project (TRegs in Uveitis STudy). The FUI panel awarded the TRUST funding application the highest score, and as a result, the project qualified for the maximum percentage of funding from the French government. The TRUST project will be run by a consortium headed by TxCell and will be dedicated to process and clinical development of Col-Treg, TxCell’s second lead product, for the treatment of autoimmune uveitis. This collaborative project has been accredited by two leading European competitive clusters Eurobiomed and Medicen. The project will be financially supported by the French Government, the Provence-Alpes-Côte-D’Azur region and the Pays D’Aix agglomeration community. The grant totals € 1,281,850. TxCell, as leader of the consortium will receive € 842,736. Provepep will receive € 290,852, the hospital La Pitié Salpêtrière (APHP) will receive € 48,686 and the Quinze-Vingt hospital center will receive € 99,576.
Therapeutic area: Autoimmune diseases - Inflammatory diseases - Ophtalmological diseases
