Leyden Labs raises $70 million: Novel class of broadly protective nasal sprays
Funding will propel Leyden Labs’ non-vaccine intranasal antibody programs to safeguard people from respiratory viruses
Leyden Laboratories B.V. announced it has raised $70M in funding to advance its Mucosal Protection Platform. This non-vaccine approach utilizes broadly protective intranasally administered antibodies to free people from the threat of respiratory viruses, such as influenza and coronaviruses.
The funding round was supported by co-leads ClavystBio (a life sciences venture investor established by Temasek) and Polaris Partners, with participation by Qiming Venture Partners and existing investors. The Company’s syndicate of VC investors now includes GV (formerly Google Ventures), Casdin Capital, F-Prime Capital, ClavystBio, Polaris Partners, Qiming Venture Partners, Invus, Byers Capital / Brook Byers, Bluebird Ventures, and Softbank Vision Fund 2.
Proceeds from the funding round will support further development of the Company’s pipeline aimed at providing protection against respiratory viruses, such as influenza and coronaviruses. Leyden Labs is advancing a novel class of broadly protective nasal sprays, including its PanFlu candidate containing the monoclonal antibody CR9114 which is currently in development for influenza prophylaxis. The funding will support the initiation of human efficacy studies of PanFlu, advancements in the Company’s Mucosal Protection Platform research, and other pipeline activities.
“This strong support from investors validates our approach to providing broad, universal protection against current and future viral outbreaks,” said Koenraad Wiedhaup, co-founder and chief executive officer of Leyden Labs. “At Leyden Labs, we’re working to stop infections early by delivering antibody-based formulations directly to the nasal mucosa – eliminating the threat of respiratory viruses directly at the very gate through which they enter. The timing of this fundraising is critical – in light of recent avian flu (H5N1) developments, we feel even more urgency to execute on our mission to protect people against existing and new viruses.”
“We are pleased to partner with Leyden Labs to advance the mission of protecting the world from the burden of known and new respiratory viruses,” said Khoo Shih, chief executive officer of ClavystBio, who joins the Supervisory Board of Leyden Labs. “This demonstrates our strong commitment to working with world-class scientists and passionate leaders at Leyden Labs to accelerate the development of its novel technology and pipeline to make a global health impact.”
In addition to this financing, the Company announces the acquisition of CoV Biotechnology Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based biotech company with assets developed by Linfa Wang, a professor of emerging infectious diseases at Duke-NUS Medical School. This acquisition adds to Leyden Labs’ research and development efforts including pandemic preparedness and other partnership initiatives in Asia.
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