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Lophius Biosciences GmbH today announced the extension of the first tranche of the recently closed financing round by €5.2m to €7.4m

Lophius Biosciences GmbH today announced the extension of the first tranche of the recently closed financing round by €5.2m to €7.4m. The extension round was led by VRD GmbH, one of the current main investors, supported by the Bavarian Growth Fund (“Wachstumsfonds Bayern”) of Bayern Kapital GmbH and the private investor Wolf Biotech GmbH. Lophius Biosciences is a privately held biotech company focusing on the development and marketing of innovative T cell-based diagnostic systems to improve therapy control and personalized treatment of patients in the area of transplantation, infectious and autoimmune diseases.

The company will use the extended funding to accelerate the diagnostic developments in the tuberculosis (TB) area to further leverage the potential of its T cell and immunodiagnostic technology platforms. Lophius has recently successfully completed its proof of concept study for the differential diagnosis of tuberculosis based on its proprietary Reverse T Cell Technology (RTT) platform. This platform enables the differentiation of active T cells versus T memory cells and hence, in the case of TB, allows the identification of patients with a contagious active disease and individuals having a latent infection. “Since there is currently no effective vaccine available for TB, diagnosis and treatment are the only available weapons to fight TB. With more than 10 million new TB cases in 2015 plus 1.7 billion latently infected people worldwide, the Lophius solution for the differential diagnosis of TB addresses a highly unmet market need”, said Bernd Merkl, CEO and Managing Director of Lophius Biosciences GmbH. “The validation of the RTT platform in the TB project opens up further opportunities in certain autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, like Multiple Sclerosis, with an unmet diagnostic need that could be addressed by Lophius together with partners.”

Beside investing in the TB project Lophius will continue to strengthen its commercialization activities for the CE-marked in vitro diagnostic solution T-Track® CMV to personalize the antiviral Cytomegalovirus (CMV) therapy in transplant patients. The efforts will be supported by targeted Lophius sales activities and by the worldwide expansion of the distribution partner network.

About Bayern Kapital

Bayern Kapital GmbH, based in Landshut, was founded on the initiative of the Bavarian government in 1995. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Bavarian LfA Förderbank. As the venture capital organization of the Land of Bavaria, Bayern Kapital provides equity capital financing for the founders of young innovative technology companies in Bavaria.

Presently Bayern Kapital manages eleven investment funds with a total volume of around €340m. So far, it has invested almost €241m in 250 innovative companies in the fields of technology in various sectors including life science, software & IT, medical technology, materials and new materials, nanotechnology and environmental technology.

In this way, more than 5000 long-term jobs in sustainable companies have been created in Bavaria.

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