Coave Therapeutics Closes €33 million ($39 million) Series B Financing to Develop its Gene Therapy Pipeline and Next-Generation Vectors based on its AAV-Ligand Conjugate Platform

Coave Therapeutics (pronounced ‘cove’; formerly Horama), a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on developing life changing gene therapies in rare Ocular and CNS (Central Nervous System) diseases, announces a €21.2 million ($25.1 million) expansion of its Series B funding round, bringing the total raised to €33.1 million ($39 million).  This financing was led by Seroba Life Sciences, supported by new investors Théa Open Innovation and eureKARE alongside existing shareholders Fund+, Omnes Capital, V-Bio Ventures, Kurma Partners, Idinvest, GO Capital, and Sham Innovation Santé/Turenne.

Coave Therapeutics will use the proceeds from this fundraising to support the execution of its corporate strategy, which is focused on:

• Advancing its lead clinical program CTx-PDE6b for the treatment of PDE6b inherited retinal dystrophies, currently in Phase I/II clinical trial, towards pivotal trials.
• Developing its AAV Ligand Conjugate (‘ALIGATER’) platform, which is designed to enhance the delivery and efficiency of AAV vectors via a proprietary chemical conjugation technology to produce targeted gene therapy products.
• Advancing new preclinical programs, based on AAV-Ligand Conjugate capsids (coAAV), in rare CNS and Ocular diseases, including CTx-GBA1 for Parkinson’s disease and Gaucher Disease and CTx-ABCA4 for Stargardt’s disease.
• Entering partnerships in our key disease areas to progress novel coAAV candidates towards the clinic and to address other disease areas given the potential of the platform and the scope for targeting other tissues.

Rodolphe Clerval, Coave Therapeutics CEO, said, “I am very pleased to have successfully completed this fundraising and welcome the new investors alongside our existing investors.  Coave Therapeutics is at an exciting point in its development as we look to develop and generate value from our enhanced and selective ALIGATER gene delivery platform. We are confident that this technology will allow us to generate a pipeline of transformative gene therapy products for the treatment of rare ocular and CNS indications.”

Bruno Montanari, Partner at Seroba Life Sciences, commented, “The potential for Coave Therapeutics to push the boundaries of gene therapy through its next-generation AAV vector platform was what attracted us to lead this financing. We are confident that this platform, which enables both targeted delivery and enhanced gene transduction, will allow the Company to generate its own pipeline of novel therapies as well as improving the effectiveness of more advanced gene therapies for rare diseases being developed by potential partners.”

Bruno Montanari, a Partner at Seroba Life Sciences, and François Lontrade from Théa Open Innovation have joined the Coave Therapeutics Board of Directors.