Startup
BioGeneration Ventures announces the close of the FIRST II fund to accelerate Dutch life science spinouts in chronic diseases
Elevator Pitch: Amplio Pharma
1 min read
Amplio Pharma, established in 2021 in Sweden and now based in Leiden, Netherlands, is focused on developing value-added medicines for broad patient populations. With a team of pharmaceutical industry veterans, their mission is to address significant efficacy gaps in existing treatments by developing innovative solutions. The company recently completed preclinical development of our lead pipeline candidate, NovoBioJect, which is poised to enter clinical trials.
Problem aiming to solve:
Autoimmune diseases, or immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs), are a global health burden, affecting around 10% of the population. These chronic conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and inflammatory bowel disease, cause debilitating pain, fatigue, and early mortality due to organ damage. Existing first-line treatments, such as methotrexate, are often ineffective in controlling disease flares in about two-thirds of patients. As a result, patients require additional, expensive therapies like biologics and JAK inhibitors, leading to an annual treatment cost of €25 billion in the U.S. and Europe alone. Methotrexate’s limited efficacy is largely due to its rapid elimination from disease-driving cells.
Our Solution:
Amplio Pharma is developing NovoBioJect, a novel treatment based on our proprietary NovoBioMed technology. This treatment delivers methotrexate along with a pharmacokinetic (PK) enhancer in a once weekly subcutaneous injection. The PK enhancer helps retain methotrexate within disease-driving cells for a longer duration, improving disease control with fewer side effects and enhancing efficacy in a broader range of patients.
USP:
NovoBioJect is the first disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) to incorporate a PK enhancer, with granted patent protection until mid- 2037. By improving the efficacy of methotrexate, NovoBioJect may reduce or eliminate the need for biologics and JAK inhibitors.
Seeking:
We are currently raising funds in our Seed Round (minimum ticket size €300k) and welcome discussions with experts in PK enhancers or drug development.
