Apeiron Biologics has been granted financing of €25M from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support the development of new treatments for cancer.
Apeiron Biologics is a biotech based in Vienna focused on developing immuno-oncology treatments designed to make the immune system attack cancer cells. The EIB has decided to support the company’s research of a new treatment for a rare form of childhood cancer through a €25M research loan financed through the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI).
The loan is specifically designed to support research programs of small and medium companies, counting with a long tenor period that matches the long-term value creation typical of biomedical research. Andrew McDowell, VP of the EIB, predicts the loan will create between 5 and 10 jobs at Apeiron, which currently employs 35 people, and will significantly increase its “cutting edge” R&D activities.
Apeiron recently received marketing authorization in Europe for APN311, an antibody therapy with orphan drug designation in both the US and Europe that was licensed to EUSA Pharma last year. The company’s current main project is now APN301, a fusion protein of an antibody against GD2 (same target as APN311) and the cytokine IL2. The candidate, now in Phase II trials, is designed to recruit and stimulate immune cells to specifically kill cancer cells that express the GD2 marker.
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