WOBURN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Excelimmune, Inc. today announced the final closing of a $10.5 million Series B financing. Proceeds from the Series B will enable Excelimmune to advance Staphguard, a human recombinant polyclonal antibody (HRPA) candidate against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), toward the clinic, enhance the Company’s discovery platform and complete proof-of-principle for its manufacturing systems. The Series B funding was provided by a syndicate of new and existing high net worth individual investors.
“The continued support from investors underscores the significant potential of our unique HRPA approach to treating nosocomial infectious disease,” said Quinton Zondervan, Chief Executive Officer of Excelimmune. “In addition to doubling Excelimmune’s size over the past year, this funding provides us with the capital required to enter the next stage of our product and technology development.”
“Excelimmune has attracted significant interest from potential partners,” added Joy Barton, who heads business development at Excelimmune. “We believe collaborating with industry partners will enable us to expand the application of our HRPA technology beyond infection into new therapeutic areas.”
Excelimmune presented positive results from a preclinical study at the 50th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC). In the study, at a MRSA dose 100 percent lethal in the control group, the group treated with Staphguard experienced 100 percent survival.
“With complete survival achieved at an antibody concentration far lower than typically required for monoclonal antibodies, the Staphguard preclinical study establishes proof-of-principle of Excelimmune’s polyclonal approach,” said Vincent Coljee, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer at Excelimmune. “We believe this approach is particularly well suited to addressing complex antigens such as those expressed by bacteria and other infectious agents.”
About Human Recombinant Polyclonal Antibodies
Human recombinant polyclonal antibodies are mixed populations of therapeutic antibodies that bind to multiple regions (epitopes) on a specific antigen or to multiple antigens (of bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms), in contrast to monoclonal antibodies, which only bind to one specific epitope. By binding to multiple regions, the polyclonal antibodies allow the body to fight off illness more readily. The antibodies are cloned from naturally occurring human antibodies in a laboratory and are then manufactured for human medical use.
About Excelimmune
Excelimmune, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of recombinant polyclonal antibodies to create novel therapies for treating disease in humans. Excelimmune’s antibody therapies harness the diversity and effectiveness of the human body’s adaptive immune system. The company is initially focusing on the treatment of infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus, including the drug resistant superbug, MRSA. This next generation technology is also believed to be applicable in the treatment of other pathogenic bacteria and viruses, disease causing proteins, and cancer. Excelimmune, founded in 2006, is a private company located in Woburn, Mass. www.excelimmune.com.