WESTON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ILiAD Biotechnologies, LLC (ILiAD), a clinical stage biotech company developing the world’s most advanced next generation pertussis vaccine, today announced the initial closing of a Class C financing, which will provide ILiAD with up to $20 million of proceeds. The initial closing includes commitments to fund $12.8 million. These funds will enable the company to conduct a Phase 2b BPZE1 clinical study following the Phase 2a study currently in progress at the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program.
The Class C financing is led by Network-1 Technologies (NYSE American: NTIP) and SDS Capital Partners. Existing shareholders JEMS Venture Capital and Seedlings Life Science Ventures also participated in the committed financing. With the addition of the current commitments, the Company has now secured $23 million in equity funding since inception. Including a previous European grant of €10 million and upon completion of the Class C financing, assuming the maximum offering is consummated, a cumulative $41 million will have been raised to develop ILiAD’s BPZE1 technology.
Corey Horowitz, CEO of Network-1, will join ILiAD’s Board of Directors and commented, “I am very excited at the prospect of participating in the development and commercialization of ILiAD’s proprietary technology and intellectual property relating to BPZE1. ILiAD’s work to date is truly impressive and BPZE1’s promise in protecting against B. Pertussis infection, as well as on a wide range of other chronic diseases, presents very significant commercialization possibilities.”
BPZE1 is the most advanced next generation pertussis vaccine in the world, designed to overcome deficiencies of current vaccines, including poor durability and failure to prevent nasopharyngeal Bordetella pertussis infections that lead to transmission to vulnerable infants. Earlier this year, the FDA cleared the Investigational New Drug (IND) application for a Phase 2a BPZE1 study at the Vanderbilt Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit (VTEU), sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) at the National Institute of Health (NIH).
BPZE1 was developed in the lab of Camille Locht, PhD, at the Institut Pasteur de Lille (IPL) and French National Institute of Health and Medical research (https://www.inserm.fr/en). ILiAD holds exclusive global rights to BPZE1 and related B-Tech™ technologies that are covered by 34 issued patents. An additional 24 patents are pending around the world.
In addition to funding continued operations, R&D and manufacturing development, the financing will support further clinical studies, including a multicenter Phase 2b clinical study that will compare ILiAD’s lead candidate vaccine, BPZE1, to Boostrix™, an FDA-licensed intramuscular acellular pertussis vaccine. It is anticipated that the Phase 2b study will enroll up to 300 healthy adult volunteers.
“The Class C financing not only provides ILiAD with critical resources to advance our pertussis vaccine program, but also expands our ability to explore the relationship between B. pertussis and other chronic pathologies,” said Dr. Keith Rubin, Chief Executive Officer of ILiAD. Dr. Rubin added, “We are grateful that Network-1, SDS Capital, and our other investors share ILiAD’s vision and commitment to put an end to escalating rates of pertussis, while also appreciating the enormous potential for our B-Tech™ platform to target a broad range of human disease.”
Walter Greenblatt & Associates, LLC (member FINRA, SIPC), a life science-focused investment bank, served as the financial advisor to ILiAD for this financing as well as for ILiAD’s prior financing rounds. For more information visit: http://www.wgreenblatt.com.
About Pertussis
Pertussis (whooping cough) is a life-threatening disease caused by the highly contagious respiratory bacterium Bordetella pertussis. According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year pertussis affects approximately 16 million people globally, accounting for nearly 200,000 deaths. Although estimated global vaccination coverage is 84%, current vaccines have failed to control epidemics. In addition, current vaccines do not fully protect infants under age 6 months, since immunization requires multiple injections, usually at 2, 4 and 6 months.
About BPZE1
BPZE1 is a next-generation live-attenuated pertussis vaccine designed to induce comprehensive and durable protection against B. pertussis infection (colonization) and disease (whooping cough). BPZE1 is being developed to block B. pertussis from colonizing the adult nasal passage, protecting adults and adolescents, and potentially preventing transmission, including transmission to infants. While ILiAD is currently focused on developing a vaccine to directly protect adults and adolescents and to indirectly protect vulnerable infants, future development aims to immunize neonates directly.
About ILiAD Biotechnologies, LLC
ILiAD Biotechnologies (http://www.iliadbio.com) is a privately held, clinical stage biotechnology company dedicated to the prevention and treatment of human disease caused by Bordetella pertussis. The company is developing and acquiring key technologies, working with leading scientists to overcome the limitations of current vaccines, investigating the impact of B. pertussis in a range of human disease, and is focused on validating its proprietary vaccines in human clinical trials.
About Network-1 Technologies, Inc.
Network-1 Technologies, Inc. (NYSE American: NTIP) is engaged in the development, licensing and protection of its intellectual property and proprietary technologies. It currently owns sixty-two (62) patents covering various telecommunications and data networking technologies as well as technologies relating to document stream operating systems and the identification of media content. Network-1’s strategy is to focus on investing its resources in developing high quality intellectual property assets, which management believes have the potential to generate significant licensing opportunities as Network-1 has achieved with respect to its patent portfolio, which have generated licensing revenue in excess of $185,000,000 from May 2007 through September 30, 2018. For more information visit: https://www.network-1.com.
“Safe Harbor” Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
In addition to historical facts or statements of current, this press release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements provide ILiAD’s current expectations or forecasts of future events. These may include statements regarding anticipated development of potential products, interpretation of clinical results, prospects for regulatory approval, outsourcing trends in the pharmaceutical industry, levels of industry research and development spending, rapid technological change, risks associated with acquisitions and investments, risks associated directly with BPZE technologies including but not limited to uncertainties of product development, and uncertainties of clinical development, dependence on third parties, competition, protection of patents and proprietary technology, potential for infringement and other statements regarding matters that are not historical fact. Some of these forward looking statements may be identified by use of words in the statements such as “estimate,” “intend,” or other words and terms of similar meaning. Statements in this release are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which are difficult to predict. Therefore actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed in such forward-looking statements. ILiAD cautions investors not to place reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. These statements speak only as of the date of this release and ILiAD undertakes no obligations to update or review these statements, except as may be required by law.
