Tucson-based Calimmune Inc., an early-stage biotech drug company, has raised $15 million in investment capital to fund the company’s ongoing HIV/AIDS drug trials, advanced research and operations.
Calimmune said the Series B financing round was led by a large pharmaceutical company whose name was not disclosed. Other participants were Alexandria Venture Investments and existing investors including RA Capital Healthcare Fund LP and the Arizona-based Translational Accelerator LLC, the company said Wednesday in a news release.
Cal-1, the company’s lead drug candidate, is a gene-based therapy designed to control HIV infection and to protect patients with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) from progressing to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). The therapy, which uses each patient’s own blood stem cells and white blood cells, is currently being evaluated in Phase I and II clinical studies for safety, ease of use and side effects.
“Over the past several decades, HIV/AIDS has shifted from a deadly disease to one that can largely be managed with medication,” Calimmune CEO Louis Breton said in prepared remarks. “The next logical step in the evolution of HIV/AIDS patient care is finding a cure by enhancing the body’s own defenses.”
“Calimmune has assembled a world-class team and a comprehensive technology arsenal that harnesses the power of gene therapy to combat HIV and potentially a wide range of challenging diseases,” said Peter Kolchinsky, managing partner at Boston-based RA Capital.
