Barcelona, October 31st, 2023
The biotech company Peptomyc S.L. announced today that it has been awarded €5 million blended financing from the Horizon Europe, European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator Program. The grant will fund a phase 1b clinical trial in first-line metastatic pancreatic cancer patients to investigate OMO-103 in combination with standard-of-care chemotherapy.
The EIC Accelerator program is a highly competitive program of the European Commission that provides small or medium size enterprise (SME) awardees with funding, coaching and business acceleration services. It is an extremely competitive call, where only 2.5-5% of the applications submitted are usually funded.
The program offers both a grant and equity investment managed by the European Investment Bank. With this model, Peptomyc received €2.5M as a grant, and €2.5M as equity.
Peptomyc’s objectives for this project are to conduct a phase 1b multicenter single-arm clinical trial to investigate OMO-103 in combination with the standard of care regimen Gemcitabine and Nab-Paclitaxel in first line metastatic Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients, in 4 leading hospital centers in Spain. The company will also advance the development of a drug companion diagnostic, scale up the manufacturing process and develop its drugs’ pipeline.
Laura Soucek, co-founder and CEO of Peptomyc said “We are very grateful to the EIC for this support: this endorsement is a testament to our innovative strides to develop groundbreaking cancer therapies. With this backing, we can accelerate our research and bring new hope in the fight against cancer.”
Marie-Eve Beaulieu, co-founder and CSO of Peptomyc said: “Our team is incredibly grateful for this opportunity to further our mission, and we are committed to advancing our pioneering work to bring better solutions to patients.”
Jörg Klumbis, CFO of Peptomyc, added: “This grant is the result of the excellent work performed by Peptomyc’s team. It reinforces our financial stability and capability to drive our innovative cancer therapies forward.”
About Peptomyc
Peptomyc (www.peptomyc.com) is a spin-off from VHIO – the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology – and ICREA – the Catalan Institute of Research and Advanced Studies -, founded in December 2014 in Barcelona, Spain. The company is focused on the development of innovative cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) targeting the Myc oncoprotein for cancer treatment and based on Dr. Soucek’s scientific research in Omomyc (the best direct Myc inhibitor known to date) over the last twenty years. It is the first company to have successfully completed a Phase 1 clinical trial with a direct MYC inhibitor.
Disclosures Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Peptomyc is including the following cautionary statement in this document to make applicable and take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (or equivalent law) for any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, the Company. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, projections, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements which are other than statements of historical facts. Certain statements contained herein, including, without limitation, those that are identified by the use of the words “anticipates,” “estimates,” “expects,” “forecasts,” “intends,” “plans,” “predicts,” “projects,” “believes,” “seeks,” “will,” “may” and similar expressions, are “forward-looking statements”. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. The Company’s expectations, beliefs and projections are expressed in good faith and are believed by the Company to have a reasonable basis, but there can be no assurance that management’s expectations, beliefs, or projections will result or be achieved or accomplished.