PHILADELPHIA, PA — Vittoria Biotherapeutics this week announced it has secured over $15 million in a private financing round. The funds will be used to continue advancing Vittoria’s lead candidate, VIPER-101, an autologous, dual population CD5-knockout CAR-T cell therapy for T-cell Lymphoma, into the clinic. VIPER-101 features the Company’s novel Senza5™ platform technology.
The funding round, led by Valley Forge Investment Corporation, includes investments from institutions such as Agent Capital, Tellus BioVentures, the University of Pennsylvania, BioAdvance, NYBC Ventures, and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Therapy Acceleration Program (LLS TAP), among others. The additional capital will support Vittoria’s clinical development initiatives and advance its next-generation cell therapies that strengthen efficacy, improve safety, and broaden therapeutic applicability for patients with cancer and autoimmune diseases.
“We’re thrilled to partner with such esteemed and diverse institutions in our efforts to address some of the most persistent barriers in the cell therapies space,” said Nicholas Siciliano, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Vittoria. “At Vittoria, we are driven by our dedication to patients. This financing brings us one step closer to validating the promise of our Senza5 platform technology and to delivering life-changing therapeutic solutions to patients dealing with some of the most difficult to treat diseases. With a targeted focus on streamlined operations and an emphasis on cash efficiency, we plan to use this capital to advance our lead program, VIPER-101 – for the treatment of T-cell lymphoma – into the clinic in early 2024.”
Vittoria’s proprietary cell therapy engineering and manufacturing platform, Senza5, combines the power of genetic engineering and a proprietary five-day manufacturing process. Senza5 is designed to maximize stemness, durability and efficacy of its produced cell therapies by disabling the CD5 signaling pathway on engineered CAR-T cells, and bypassing CD5’s immunosuppressive effects to amplify the therapy’s antitumor activity. Stemness is further enhanced by the expedited five-day manufacturing process which promotes greater in vivo expansion and durability, and the potential for longer-lasting responses. By acting on the fundamental biology of T cells, Senza5 can be widely utilized to improve the efficacy of engineered T-cell therapies.
“We’re proud to invest in Vittoria Biotherapeutics to support the innovative Senza5 platform technology and VIPER-101 program, recognizing there is a need for safer and more effective therapies for T-cell lymphoma patients,” said Lore Gruenbaum, Ph.D., Vice President, LLS TAP. “T-cell lymphoma is a serious disease with a poor prognosis, and this investment aligns with our commitment to supporting cutting-edge research that offers promising treatments and hope for patients and their families.”
Brian McElwee, President of Valley Forge Investment group added, “At Valley Forge Investment Group, we seek to back visionary teams developing transformative technologies. Our investment in Vittoria Biotherapeutics underscores our belief in their groundbreaking approach to engineered T-cell therapies and our confidence in the management team to execute on their vision. We’re thrilled to support Vittoria’s dedicated management team again in this new endeavor, driven by their unrelenting commitment to develop new innovative strategies for the improvement of therapeutic outcomes for patients.”
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