Acthera Therapeutics raises CHF 5.4 million seed capital

Founded in 2019, Acthera Therapeutics addresses one of the most important challenges in medicine, optimizing the therapeutic effect while minimizing the side effects. Acthera's proprietary hard-shelled liposomes (HSLs) allow for highly targeted release of potentially toxic therapeutic molecules at the exact site of medical need, creating high local availability of the drug to increase efficacy. The overall amount of drug substances delivered to the body can be massively reduced, thus significantly decreasing toxicity and widening the therapeutic window of many drugs.

Acthera’s HSLs can be loaded with a wide variety of payloads and almost all molecule types. Their possible applications are broad; a first animal proof-of-concept with an approved cardiovascular drug with serious side effects has confirmed the potential to widen its therapeutic window significantly, reducing systemic exposure by more than 2/3 while showing optimal therapeutic efficacy.

The company owns multiple types of HSLs and is currently expanding the scope of application throughout all drug modalities such as RNA, small molecules, peptides/antibodies, and others, possibly circumventing current hurdles in the development of investigational therapies and/or extending the application of approved molecules.

The funds raised in its seed A round will enable the startup to strengthen its team, advance the development of the different release trigger mechanisms and expand the selection of potential clinical candidate cargos with a focus on cardiovascular diseases, oncology and RNA and selectively engage with potential collaboration partners.

An experienced team of researchers
Acthera was established by several Professors and experienced practitioners, the team has recently been joined by former Professor Thierry Fumeaux, as the company's Chief Medical Officer. In its exploration of potential clinical candidates in various therapeutic areas, Acthera has started to establish a high-profile advisory board, including Ruggero Della Bitta, a recognized industry senior expert in oncology and haematology who previously worked as VP Strategy Oncology in Roche/Genentech and is currently the CMO of Precirix Therapeutics, and Jeff Guise, a seasoned US IP lawyer with extensive global experience. Additional advisors will be announced soon.

Roger Meier, the Chairman of the board, stated, “Acthera has, in challenging times of lockdowns, reached very important milestones in developing a unique, well-differentiated technology platform. I am very pleased to see that the company is attracting outstanding talent and senior industry experts who strongly support the excellent scientific and medical value proposal of this platform.” Bettina Ernst, member of the board, commented, “I am very excited to be part of this extraordinary journey. Acthera's technology has the potential to improve the application spectrum of countless medicines significantly, to make new therapies possible in the first place and thus to improve the lives of a vast number of patients significantly.”

(Press release)