Cebiotex –a spin-off of the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu in Barcelona (HSJD) and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) based at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB)– has closed a funding round totaling € 1.8 million that will allow the company to complete the regulatory pre-clinical phase of post-surgery cancer treatment for soft tissue sarcomas CEB-01.

CEB-01 is the first therapeutic indication developed by its innovative technology platform Cebiotex®, based on biomedical application of nanofibers for the local delivery of drugs (Local Drug Delivery System).

The aim of Cebiotex is also to reach pediatric patients through an impact investment round - which featured the participation of Fundació Ship2B, Inveready, and family offices– and two parallel campaigns of equity crowdfunding with Capital Cell. This private financing has been complemented with public funds from the NEOTEC Center Industrial Technological Development (CDTI) program and ENISA, under the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness and SME Instrument (Horizon 2020) of the Commission European.

Cebiotex –which launched this capital extension after its collaboration with Tech4Health, an investment and acceleration platform for startups in the Health sector in Ship2B- will also invest the funds raised in the creation of a pre-industrial production pilot plant endowed with GMP certification (Good Manufacturing Practice) for manufacturing the drug CEB-01 and other future candidates of the platform.

“The success of both equity crowdfunding campaigns (that managed to raise € 600,000) - and the participation of social impact investors have allowed us to remain focused on the pediatric use as a strategic objective of our company. We deeply thank all our investors for their trust in this disruptive project, developed from inception at HSJDi UPC research laboratories eight years ago. Today, I dare say that if 'the dish leaves the kitchen' (ie, if the preclinical tests are positive), CEB-01 will be extremely well positioned to reach the market. And we will continue with our strong committment and working very hard to make our proposals reach both children and adults" said Joan Bertrand, cofounder and CEO of Cebiotex.

A public-private alliance to innovate against cancer

The idea of creating a biodegradable nanofiber membrane (resorbable by the body) in the post- surgery treatment of cancer arose from the hand of the engineer Joan Bertran, from Arenys, nine years ago. Thanks to the support of the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu de Barcelona and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) –current partners of Cebiotex– in 2012 this project materialized in the creation of a technology-based company as a spin-off of two Catalan institutions that patented the product and licensed it to the biotech.

The Cebiotex membrane is a Local Drug Delivery System (a system of local delivery and release of active ingredients) that allows surgeons -following the removal of a tumor- to cover the surgical bed with high concentrations of the drug to act directly on the affected area.

Steming from the interaction between Hospital de Sant Joan de Déu researchers -who developed the scientific and clinical project- and a team of engineers from the UPC- which provided the technology to produce nanofibers - Cebiotex created its first therapeutic solution: CEB-01, designed for the treatment of surgical beds of soft tissue sarcoma (STS), a rare type of cancer, which is considered to be at the "borderline" between adults and children. The efficacy and toxicity of this new system has been tested in animal models with promising results with very low toxicity and high activity. Cebiotex has already begun work on pre-clinical phase and GMP regulatory approval of its production process.

“ Our first product is designed for the treatment of soft tissue sarcomas, but in the near future we plan to develop new biomaterials for the treatment of cancerous tumors in adults: breast, lung, pancreas, colon, ovary, prostate, and pediatric types of cancer, such as neuroblastoma. At the same time, we are also working to open a second line of indications in cell therapies, as our technology platform Cebiotex® paves the way the regeneration of cartilage, nerve tissue, heart tissue, wound care, etc", explains Joan Bertran.

■ About Cebiotex

Cebiotex (http://www.cebiotex.com/) was created in 2012 as a spin-off of Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu (HSJD), with the mission of developing nanofiber technology and products derived from this technology in the biomedical field. Years of scientific-medical technology research work together with tiredless researchers from both Catalan institutions allowed Cebiotex to create and characterize pre-clinical in vitro and in vivo membranes as Local Drug Delivery System (local drug release system).

At present, Cebiotex develops, produces and tests its membranes throught the entire production process: it designs nanofiber production units, the development process of products based on nanofiberas well as product characterization at the preclinical stage. All the company´s products are protected by patent applications owned by the (UPC) and HSJD.

Cebiotex in its first round raised € 500,000 in the month of February 2015. To date, and since it was created, the company has raised € 2,3M. Today, it has granted patents in the United States and the European Union, and is currently in the process of granting patent rights in China, Japan and South Korea.

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