Cellvie Receives 5 Million Dollars in Fresh Capital

(CONNECT) Cellvie has secured 5 million dollars in a financing round. According to a statement from the biotech company, both existing and new investors have participated. This round was led by the Californian venture capital firm Taiho Ventures. In addition, Kizoo Technologie Ventures from Karlsruhe and Beiersdorf Venture Capital from Hamburg have invested "significant amounts".

Cellvie was founded as a spin-off of Harvard Medical School in Boston and relocated its headquarters to Technopark Zurich in early 2023. The company has developed standardized mitochondria derived from human cell lines as a scalable biologic and is advancing two main programs.

The first is aimed at ischemia-reperfusion injury, i.e. damage that occurs when the blood supply returns to the tissue after a phase of restricted blood flow. The team is focusing on such damage as the first application of the technology. This previously incurable complication is the most common cause of death from heart attacks, strokes and organ transplants. In parallel, the company is developing a mitochondria-based gene transfer platform with the support of an Innosuisse grant of CHF 1.5 million.

For Sakae Asanuma, President and CEO of Taiho Ventures, the platform potential of Mitochondria is "particularly compelling as it offers the prospect of treating a variety of disease conditions beyond transplantation. This financing round will enable the company to maintain the pace and shorten the time to clinical application."

Dr. Alexander Schueller, founder and CEO of cellvie, sees this new investment as "proof of the progress we have made in the further development of mitochondria as a new form of therapy." To support the next phase of development - including the completion of a Phase I/IIa clinical trial in kidney transplantation - cellvie intends to launch the next round of financing this year. ce/mm