AbilityPharma, member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, announces a €7 million investment from a European-Canadian syndicate of life sciences investors led by Inveready, also members, CTI Life Sciences Fund and EIC Fund with the participation of CDTI Innvierte and FiTalent.
The round also received support from the company's founders, the family offices IVAMOSA and GESAMO and a crowdfunding campaign on the Capital Cell platform, a member of CataloniaBio & HealthTech.
This round will allow AbilityPharma to fully finance its international phase 2b clinical trial with the anticancer drug ABTL0812 in pancreatic cancer patients, with efficacy results expected by late 2024. It is a double-blind, placebo-controlled first-line study, in combination with the FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy, currently ongoing in 23 hospitals in Spain, the United States, France, and Israel. The 140 patients enrolled in the study have already been recruited.
Metastatic pancreatic cancer is a disease with a very low survival rate. AbilityPharma's goal is to demonstrate that ABTL0812 has greater efficacy than the current standard treatment FOLFIRINOX. These results would enable AbilityPharma to obtain funding for the final development of ABTL0812 and/or license the molecule to a pharmaceutical or biotechnology multinational that can complete its development to make ABTL0812 available to pancreatic cancer patients by 2028.
"We are grateful to CTI Life Sciences, Inveready, and the EIC Fund for completing this funding round, and to all our new and existing investors for their trust in our team and support for our goals. This investment will allow us to continue working tirelessly to bring ABTL0812 to pancreatic cancer patients," comments Dr. Carles Domènech, executive chairman, CEO, and co-founder of AbilityPharma.
Sara Secall, general partner at Inveready, has emphasized the importance of "attracting smart investors who can help advance AbilityPharma's treatment for cancer patients."
These funds add to the €2 million non-dilutive grant awarded to the company in 2023 by the Ministry of Science and Innovation through Public-Private Collaborations and Strategic Lines programs with contributions from the European Union's Next Generation funds.
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