Pharmaceutical company BrightGene and medical research organisation ModiQuest have contributed to the first close of a targeted €15m ($19.1m) series A round for Netherlands-based autoimmune disease drug developer Citryll.
BOM Brabant Ventures, a fund managed by Dutch development agency De Brabant Development Agency, and life science-focused venture capital firm Curie Capital also took part in the round. Citryll did not reveal the size of the first tranche.
Founded by ModiQuest, Citryll is developing drugs that are designed to treat autoimmune diseases by inhibiting the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), a network of extracellular fibres that bind to invading pathogens and react to host cells.
Citryll will put the cash towards developing the lead program tAcpa, which targets conditions such as lupus, vasculitis, pulmonary fibrosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Helmuth van Es, chief executive of Citryll, said: “We believe that drugs that interfere with NETs and their production have the potential to create game changing new treatments to prevent or treat human diseases.
“Citryll’s approach does not broadly target inflammation or acquired immunity, instead it extinguishes the source of autoantigens and (NET)-derived toxic molecules in the safest way currently possible.”