Freya Biosciences, a Copenhagen-based women’s health biotech company with a Boston subsidiary, has announced a $38 million funding round, one of the largest Series A rounds in the advancement of reproductive immunotherapies. Led by Sofinnova Partners and OMX Ventures, the fundraising saw among the protagonists the Italian funds Indaco Biotech – Indaco Venture Partners (one month after the round of 67.5 million euros on Nouscom for the development of anticancer vaccines) and Angelini Ventures which participates with three million euros. Investors include the Export Investment Fund of Denmark, Mike Jafar Family Office, CE-Ventures and Corundum Systems Biology. “We are pleased to announce this significant round, underlining our ongoing commitment to supporting innovation and women’s health in particular ,” said Giovanni Rizzo, partner and key manager of Indaco Biotech Fund – Indaco Venture Partners. We are confident that this initiative will make a tangible contribution to the advancement of immunotherapies to address issues related to infertility and other clinical indications related to the reproductive system of women. We are proud to be involved in this initiative and look forward to the positive impacts that will result.”
“For the first time, thanks to this investment by Angelini Ventures, our Group is entering clinical research on female fertility,” commented Sergio Marullo di Condojanni, CEO of Angelini Industries Women’s health and, more generally, gender medicine deserve the utmost attention and for this reason we have chosen to fund those who are committed to the development of new, effective and personalized therapeutic solutions that respond to women’s need for well-being and in particular to the desire for motherhood. Our commitment in this area is part of the Group’s general strategy, which in the various sectors in which it is present wants to be attentive to the needs of individuals and families”.
“Freya is carrying out cutting-edge clinical work with an innovative approach, which until now has been little explored in the gynaecological field,” observes Paolo Di Giorgio, CEO of Angelini Ventures The first positive results obtained from Freya’s clinical trials on microbiota and immunotherapy suggest that this may be an effective and targeted approach to address some clinical conditions that have as a common denominator the alteration of the microbiota, such as infertility. With the investment in Freya, Angelini Ventures continues its journey aimed at identifying and supporting innovative and high-tech ideas in the field of life sciences”.
For reproductive health
This important step forward is aimed at accelerating the clinical development of a drug – in the experimental phase – that aims to treat infertility in women thanks to the use of a healthy vaginal microbiota, during assisted fertilization (IVF – In Vitro Fertilization) techniques. Freya operates through the in-depth sequencing of the microbiota from fertile and non-fertile women, offering a detailed view of health status and the study of a vast number of immune biomarkers on human clinical samples. This integrated approach enables the creation of a pioneering new immunotherapy platform that will see a breakthrough in the understanding and treatment of conditions related to female reproductive health. The goal is to provide innovative and effective solutions to address fertility and other challenges. “Freya’s team of experts is unique in its position to shape a more comprehensive understanding of women’s health and disease to advance innovative solutions and new treatment paradigms, and we are confident in their success,” says Henrijette Richter, Managing Partner of Sofinnova Partners. We look forward to supporting Freya in addressing reproductive health challenges, for which adequate treatments are currently unavailable.”
In recent years, scientific research has begun to shed light on the role of the vaginal microbiota: its alteration (dysbiosis), caused by the reduction of certain types of lactobacilli, “good” bacteria that physiologically populate it, and by the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria that can lead to inflammation and infections, is a common feature of various clinical conditions such as infertility, endometriosis and preterm pregnancies. The exact interaction and cause-effect relationships between the microbiota and these conditions is still being researched, and in this context a line of clinical research has been born that aims to restore the balance of the microbiota and then observe its effects on women’s health. In this sense, Freya Biosciences is developing an experimental drug, derived from healthy microbiota donors, capable of modulating the immune system, to solve dysbiosis. The procedure to obtain the biological material needed to produce the investigational drug from healthy donors and to administer it to women with dysbiosis is minimally invasive and takes only a few minutes.
In the “proof of concept”, the clinical study that is performed at the beginning of the trial of a molecule on patients, Freya observed that, over a few days, women with dysbiosis who had taken the experimental drug showed a physiological re-balance of the vaginal microbiota.
With the new $38 million grant, Freya Bioscences will further develop its research to observe the effects that re-balancing the microbiota has on fertility and women’s health. Freya’s scientific committee includes professors and researchers from several prestigious universities and research centers including Johns Hopkins University, Imperial College London, Harvard School of Public Health, London Women’s Clinic, University of Arizona, Rigshospitalet, University of Antwerp and University of Trento.
(Photo by J. Balla Photography on Unsplash )
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