Infectious diseases treatments get €20m boost
The InnovFin Infectious Diseases (ID) facility has provided a €20m loan to French biopharmaceutical company Transgene SA to boost the development of innovative treatments for infectious diseases.
The funding covers about half of the company’s investment into the development of treatments for diseases such as hepatitis B and tuberculosis, as well as human papillomavirus-induced cancer, and marks the second deal to be signed under InnovFin ID.
The first deal, agreed in July 2015, saw Swedish company Cavidi AB receive a loan of €10m to further develop, and bring closer to widespread use, a breakthrough HIV testing device.
“This deal under InnovFin ID once again shows the EU’s commitment to addressing major public healthcare challenges. We hope this financing will help improve the treatment and quality of life of people with these illnesses,” said Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation.
Over the next four years, Transgene SA aims to perform clinical trials of a therapeutic vaccine for chronic hepatitis B, a main cause of and risk factor for liver cancer. It also plans to trial a targeted immunotherapy for the treatment of human papillomavirus-induced cancer.
The company is further working to develop a compound to address tuberculosis and bring it to the clinical development stage, which would then be funded under InnovFin ID, a debt instrument developed under Horizon 2020 that supports access to finance for high risk projects in the area of infectious diseases.
