DioGenX

DiogenX appoints Dr. Klara Owen as Chief Medical Officer

Support mlcom — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 09:30:13 +0000

Marseille, France, November 12, 2024 – DiogenX, a biotech company focused on regenerating insulin-producing beta cells for the treatment of diabetes, today announces the appointment of Dr. Klara Owen as Chief Medical Officer.

“I am delighted to welcome Dr. Owen to DiogenX. Her experience in T1D and metabolic diseases in general, from clinical translation to Phase 3, will be fundamental for the development of DGX-01, our lead candidate, through the clinical and regulatory processes,” said Benjamin Charles, CEO of DiogenX.

“Furthermore, Dr. Owen’s career spans from clinical practice to medical director for pharma and biotech companies. She is a great addition to our team, to support DiogenX’s growth and our ambition to change the treatment paradigm in diabetes.”

The company’s lead candidate, DGX-01, is a first-in-class recombinant protein that aims at replicating insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. This novel approach has the potential to offer a disease-modifying therapy for T1D, a chronic and life-threatening condition that affects millions of people worldwide. It is currently undergoing IND-enabling studies and is expected to enter clinical trials in 2026.

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DiogenX welcomes Eleanor L. Ramos as independent member of its Board of Directors

aline@mlcom.fr — Mon, 09 Sep 2024 00:01:16 +0000

Marseille, France, September 9, 2024 – DiogenX, a biotech company focused on regenerating insulin-producing beta cells for the treatment of diabetes, today announces the appointment of Eleanor L. Ramos, MD, as an Independent Board Member.

“Dr. Ramos brings invaluable expertise in the development of novel treatments for type 1 diabetes (T1D), having participated in the regulatory approval of teplizumab-mzwv, the first disease-modifying treatment for the delay of stage 3 T1D,” said Benjamin Charles, CEO of DiogenX. “With our lead candidate DGX-01 having entered IND-enabling studies, we are now preparing the next steps and Dr Ramos’ clinical expertise is a fantastic addition to the team.”

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DiogenX strengthens Executive Committee with Hélène Sicard joining as Chief Development Officer

Support mlcom — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 09:02:57 +0000

Marseille, France, July 25, 2024 – DiogenX, a biotech company focused on regenerating insulin-producing beta cells for the treatment of diabetes, today announces the appointment of Hélène Sicard, PhD, as Chief Development Officer.

The appointment of Dr. Sicard comes at a time when the company has selected its lead candidate, DGX-01, a first-in-class recombinant protein that aims to replicate insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. DGX-01 is now entering IND-enabling studies. The company’s novel approach has the potential to become a disease-modifying therapy for type 1 diabetes (T1D), a chronic auto-immune condition that affects millions of people worldwide.

“Dr. Sicard has extensive experience in leading teams and projects through progressive phases of development in the biotechnology space. I look forward to the exciting path ahead in fulfilling our vision of regenerating functional pancreatic beta cells, with the ultimate aim of restoring patients’ insulin independence,” said Benjamin Charles, CEO of DiogenX.

Dr. Sicard brings to DiogenX over 25 years’ experience in the development of different drug classes (antibodies, small molecules, cell therapies), across multiple therapeutic areas. She has contributed to transitioning more than ten molecules from preclinical to early clinical stage and also has significant experience in late-stage drug development. Hélène has actively participated in the creation of several biotech companies, as well as their strategic and structural growth. Hélène holds a PhD in molecular biology from Toulouse Paul Sabatier University (France).

“I am thrilled to join DiogenX,” said Dr. Sicard. “Its lead candidate DGX-01 has shown outstanding efficacy in mouse models of T1D as well as safety in preclinical studies. I look forward to leading the development of this first-in-class disease modifying therapy towards the clinical stage.”

DiogenX also welcomes Laetitia Cohen-Tannoudji, as Senior Director, CMC, and Joanna Fares, as Director of Drug Development Sciences. Joanna and Laetitia join DiogenX from Emergence Tx (now a wholly owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company) and before that Innate Pharma. In addition, Renaud Perret joins the team as Director, Administration and Finance. He previously worked at Invectys and before that GSK for 16 years.

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Sunstone Life Science Ventures Fund IV invests in DiogenX, a biotech company developinga first-in-class regenerative treatment for type 1 diabetes

Support mlcom — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 14:45:50 +0000

Copenhagen, Denmark and Marseille, France, Oct 31, 2023 – Sunstone Life Science Ventures (Sunstone), a leading European venture capital firm focused on life science therapeutics, today announced that Sunstone’s Fund IV has invested in the Series A financing round of DiogenX now increased to €33.5 million ($33.8M). In May, DiogenX, a biotech company focused on regenerating insulin-producing beta cells for the treatment of diabetes, had announced its initial Series A financing round.

DiogenX was founded in 2020 based on the groundbreaking research of Professor Patrick Collombat, a world-renowned expert in pancreatic beta cell regeneration. The Company’s lead program is a first-in-class recombinant protein that aims at replicating insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. This novel approach has the potential to offer a disease-modifying therapy for type 1 diabetes, a chronic and life-threatening condition that affects millions of people worldwide.

In this Series A round, Sunstone LSV Fund IV joins lead investors Roche Venture Fund and Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF), alongside new investors Eli Lilly and Company and Omnes and existing investors JDRF T1D Fund and AdBio partners. The funding will enable DiogenX to advance its lead candidate towards clinical development.

“We are very impressed by the scientific achievements and the vision of DiogenX’s team. We believe that their approach to regenerate beta cells has the potential to transform the treatment landscape for type 1 diabetes and to improve the lives of millions of patients” said Claus Andersson, General Partner at Sunstone and board member of DiogenX. “We are delighted to join this strong syndicate of specialized investors and to support DiogenX in its next phase of growth.”

“Sunstone is a highly respected and experienced investor in the European biotech ecosystem. We are thrilled to have them on board as we work towards the clinic with our lead program,” said Benjamin Charles, co-founder and CEO of DiogenX. “We are grateful for the continued support of our existing investors and the trust of our new investors. Together, we share a common vision to bring innovative solutions for patients with type 1 diabetes.”

About Sunstone

Sunstone is an independent European venture capital investment firm founded in 2007. Sunstone focuses on scientifically advanced assets, and invests to develop and expand pre-clinical stage life science companies with strong potential to achieve global success within their therapeutic fields. Sunstone has invested in more than 50 companies and has completed more than 23 successful exits and IPOs. Sunstone ranks among the most active European investors in life science therapeutics. For more information, please visit sunstone.eu.

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DiogenX raises €27.5M Series A financing to advance its first-in-class regenerative treatment for type 1 diabetes into clinical trial

Support mlcom — Wed, 10 May 2023 09:01:41 +0000

Series A – led by Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and Roche Venture Fund – to fund novel beta cell regeneration approach

Lead program has the potential to become the first disease-modifying treatment against symptomatic type 1 diabetes

Marseille, France, May 10, 2023 – DiogenX, a regenerative medicine biotech company focused on regenerating insulin-producing beta cells for the treatment of diabetes, today announced the successful completion of a €27.5 million ($30M) Series A financing round led by Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF). In this round, BIVF was joined by new investors Roche Venture Fund, Eli Lilly and Omnes, and historic investors JDRF T1D Fund and AdBio partners. Proceeds will be used to advance the lead drug candidate into clinical development in patients with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). DiogenX previously raised €4.5M ($4.8M) in June 2020.

DiogenX’ lead program is a potential first-in-class, disease-modifying recombinant protein designed to modulate the Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway to regenerate pancreatic insulin-producing beta cells. To date, the company has achieved in vivo proof of concept demonstrating efficacy in prevention and reversion settings and an unprecedented effect on human beta cell mass generation, leading to increased functional insulin-producing beta cells. In addition, long term exposure to the drug was well tolerated in all preclinical models and showed the unique ability to safely modulate the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. This collective data suggests the potential for broad clinical utility, in monotherapy and in combination with insulins and therapies that replace or protect beta cells.

“We are working to develop a breakthrough therapy to harness the patient’s own remaining endogenous beta cells to increase insulin production and modify the course of type 1 diabetes, potentially eliminating the need for exogenous insulin in some patients,” said Benjamin Charles, CEO of DiogenX. “The successful closing of this financing and the strong consortium of biopharma and diabetes leaders will support DiogenX with the expertise required to advance the development of our lead program towards patients.”

“Diogenx lead candidate has shown an unprecedented effect in beta cell regeneration in preclinical work. It is a potential breakthrough regenerative therapy aimed at restoring pancreatic function,” said Johannes Zanzinger, investment director at BIVF.

“The JDRD T1D Fund is thrilled to continue its support of the DiogenX program in this important step towards the clinic,” said Katie Ellias, managing director at JDRF T1D Fund. “Restoring a patient’s own pancreatic function without the need for surgery would have a game-changing disease-modifying impact for the T1D community, who currently rely on insulin therapy.”As part of the financing, David Evans, investment director at Roche Venture Fund, joins DiogenX’ board of directors.

Anthony Paronneau, McDermott, Will & Emery, advised the company.

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DiogenX Raises €4.5M in Seed Financing from Advent France Biotechnology, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and JDRF T1D Fund

admin — Tue, 16 Jun 2020 08:07:00 +0000

Funding will be used to select drug candidate and prepare preclinical development

Marseille, France, June 16, 2020 – DiogenX, a preclinical stage biotech company specializing in the development of pancreatic beta-cell modulators for the treatment of type one diabetes (T1D), today announces the successful completion of a seed financing round of €4.5 million ($4.8M) from an investment consortium comprised of Advent France Biotechnology (AFB), the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and the JDRF T1D Fund. The proceeds of the funding will be used to select DiogenX’s drug candidate and prepare preclinical development before the next round of Series A financing in late 2021.

Discovered in the laboratory of Dr. Patrick Collombat (Inserm, CNRS, Nice University) in France, DiogenX is developing an innovative therapy with the potential to be the first betacell regeneration drug for diabetes. Therapies that directly modify beta-cell biology can halt and may even reverse the loss of function that occurs in T1D.

In 2019, approximately 463 million adults between the ages of 20-79 were living with diabetes. In the same year, diabetes was the cause of 4.2 million deaths and accounted for €700 billion ($760bn) in health expenditure – 10% of total health spending on adults. By 2045 it is estimated that prevalence in adults will rise to 700 million1 . There are currently no approved disease modifying therapies for T1D, despite today 18 million people worldwide living with T1D2 .

“For decades the wider scientific community has been looking for therapies to regenerate beta cells. So far, none have been available to patients, said Benjamin Charles, CEO of DiogenX. “DiogenX’s will be the only off-the-shelf drug that is capable of recovering the full beta-cell mass in the short-term. Our ultimate mission is to markedly reduce the burden of frequent insulin injections.”

“We are very happy to be part of this new adventure. We worked with the founders before the inception of DiogenX and we believe these therapies have excellent potential,” said Matthieu Coutet, Managing Partner at AFB.

“We are thrilled to support DiogenX in its effort to develop what could be the first beta cell regenerative therapy for patients with T1D, said Katie Ellias, Managing Director at the JDRF T1D Fund. “The T1D Fund looks forward to collaborating with the company and our co-investors to bring this potential breakthrough therapy to the market.”

“BIVF is pleased to contribute to the creation of DiogenX,” said Johannes Zanzinger, Investment Director at BIVF. “If the preclinical in-vivo regeneration data translates into humans, the technology has the potential to be a game changer in the way diabetes is being treated. We look forward to working with DiogenX’s team to support its growth and help further realize the technology’s potential.”

In conjunction with the financing, Matthieu Coutet, Johannes Zanzinger and Katie Ellias have joined DiogenX’s Board of Directors.

Legal advisors for DiogenX: Anthony Paronneau, Fanny Rech, McDermott Will & Emery

Legal advisors for JDFR T1D: Frédéric Lerner, Pierre Hesnault, Orsay

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