Atriva captures $3.5m seed round

Atriva Therapeutics, a Germany-based biotech spinout from University of Münster and Justus Liebig University Gießen, has secured the second tranche of a €3m ($3.5m) seed round co-led by German public-private partnership High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF).

Investment firm Stichting Participatie Atriva co-led the round, which also included InSynchrony Ventures, the investment arm of contract pharmaceutical research firm InSymbiosis.

HTGF and Stichting Participatie Atriva previously co-led a first tranche of undisclosed size in February 2017, with participation from unnamed private investors.

Founded in 2015, Atriva is developing antiviral compounds to tackle acute infections such as influenza. They work by blocking cellular signalling pathways with MEK-inhibitors, a group of chemicals known to obstruct certain enzymes and also used in oncological research.

The method builds on research by Stephan Pleschka, professor in Justus Liebig University Gießen’s Institute of Medical Virology, and Stephan Ludwig, professor at University of Münster’s Institute of Molecular Virology.

The spinout will initially target high-risk influenza groups such as the elderly and pregnant women. Atriva recently settled on a formulation for its lead drug candidate, ATR-002.

The seed funding will go towards the clinical development of ATR-002 in the first half of 2018 and help advance the candidate to the proof-of-concept stage in late 2019.

Frank Hensel, senior investment manager at High-Tech Gründerfonds, said: “Atriva’s discovery team has identified a new universal mode of action with the possibility of broadening the application to a wide range of viral infections like Zika, Hanta or RSV [Respiratory Syncytial Virus].

“This is of particular importance in the case of the rapidly spreading viral diseases.

“With the second tranche of seed investment, Atriva continues to advance the development of the active substance to clinical development stage.”