Curie Capital invests in Allero Therapeutics

Life sciences seed capital fund Curie Capital today announced the closing of a seed investment in Allero Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel immunotherapies. The company has developed a proprietary platform technology, called Specific Oromucosal Immunotherapy (SOMIT), which enables targeted delivery of antigen-specific immunotherapies to the oromucosa (a specialized compartment of the immune system that lines the inside of the mouth). Allero Therapeutics aims to restore immune tolerance for specific target molecules in patients suffering from allergic and autoimmune diseases.

Combined with the recent funding from Swanbridge Capital, Curie Capital’s seed investment will enable Allero Therapeutics to prepare its lead product for clinical development including the manufacturing process for clinical-grade products. “We are excited to have another life sciences fund on board.” said Emil Pot, Allero Therapeutics’ CEO. He added: “This allows us to speed up key development milestones, which will pave the way for further accelerated (clinical) development of SOMIT products”.

Mariëtte van der Velden, Managing Partner of Curie Capital, said: “We are very excited to support Allero Therapeutics to develop SOMIT. The platform technology is based on a smart combination of product components known to be safe in humans. If the clinical trial of SOMIT in a first indication shows proof of tolerance induction, it would mean that the growing number of allergic patients can finally look forward to an easy to administer short-course treatment. In addition, it would provide a strong indication that a curative solution for specific autoimmune diseases can be developed“.

Professor Lars K. Poulsen, a leading clinical researcher and Key Opinion Leader in the area of Allergen Immunotherapy (AIT) of the Copenhagen University Hospital said: “There are still neither preventive nor curative treatments available for food allergies and autoimmune diseases, and the prospect of targeting the disease with SOMIT with its combination of specific antigens and modulation of the immune system is very promising and novel.”

Source: Allero Therapeutics