Dutch firm awarded €1m credit extension to develop immunotherapy drug

Dutch firm Xenikos has been awarded funding to support the development of T-Guard, which is in clinical phase 1/2 testing for the treatment of steroid-resistant acute graft versus host disease (GVHD).

The firm has been awarded a €1 million innovation credit extension by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland, RVO), part of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs.

T-Guard consists of a combination of two toxin-loaded anti-T-cell antibodies and has shown promise as a therapeutic tool for safely and swiftly resetting the body's immune system in T-cell-mediated diseases.

Xenikos was initially granted an innovation credit for €1.9 million in 2012.

The innovation credit is a credit facility dedicated to projects that are technologically innovative and unique to the Netherlands, Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba.

The credit awarded to Xenikos covers 35% of the submitted project costs and becomes repayable only if T-Guard establishes its therapeutic efficacy (proof of concept).

In total, Xenikos will have received a total of €3.2 million under this program, including a previous extension.

"The funding provided by the innovation credit is supporting the ongoing development of T-Guard, including the technology transfer of the GMP production to our manufacturing partner and preparations for the pivotal Phase 2 study in steroid-resistant acute graft-versus-host disease," said Ypke van Oosterhout, chief executive officer.

"With our announcement earlier this fall that the last patient has completed treatment in the Phase 1/2 trial evaluating T-Guard for this indication, we are making good progress in advancing this important technology for the treatment of GVHD, a serious disease for which current therapies are often ineffective."