Atox Bio, developer of therapeutics for diseases mediated by an excessive inflammatory response, announced that it has raised $3.25 million in an initial closing. The investment was co-led by Esperante and a private US-based investor and will be used to advance AB103, currently in phase 2 clinical studies for the treatment
of Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections (NSTI).
AB103 is a rationally designed short peptide acting as a CD28 modulator regulating the host’s
inflammatory response. AB103 is undergoing a phase 2 study at 7 leading surgical trauma centers
in the US, evaluating its clinical benefit in patients with NSTI. In October 2011, the FDA has
granted AB103 an orphan drug designation.
NSTI includes several distinctive clinical diagnoses that share clinical features representing the
most severe types of infections involving the skin, skin structures and soft tissue and having a
high mortality rate. To date, there are no approved treatments for NSTI. As neither surgical
debridement nor antibacterial therapy directly address the immunological pathogenesis of NSTI,
reducing the host inflammatory response could lead to important clinical benefits
morbidity and mortality.
Atox Bio will be included as one of the portfolio companies of Integra Holdings, a holding
company currently formed by Yissum, the technology transfer company of the Hebrew University
of Jerusalem