Japan Asia Investment Corporation (JAIC) and Nippon Venture Capital Corp (NVCC) were joined by existing and new investors in a $9.2m series D funding of Regimmune, an immune therapeutics company based in Japan and the US.
Additional investors participating in this round are new investors Mizuho Capital, Nissei Insurance, KSP, the core business entity that operates the Kanagawa Science Park, and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital. Existing investors SMBC Venture Capital, corporate venturing arm of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and Mitsubishi UFJ Bank Capital also invested in this financing. Proceeds from this funding will be used primarily to support the company’s early stage product development.
Haru Morita, President and Chief Executive Officer of Regimmune, said: “We now have positive human clinical data that validates the usefulness of our immune-regulating technology platform. The financing announced will allow us to fund new programmes based on our proprietary technology including therapeutics for type 1 diabetes, celiac disease, and inhibitor formation in enzyme replacement therapies (ERT) such as hemophilia and lysosomal diseases.”
Regimmune successfully completed a Phase I study of RGI-2001 for Graft versus Host Disease (GvHD) and recently announced it has initiated a Phase II clinical trial for RGI-2001. Data from the Phase I study showed no safety concerns up to the highest dose and some preliminary signs of efficacy were observed.
The company has raised $21m since it was founded in 2006. Other investors include NIF SMBC Ventures, Nikko Antfactory, Jafco Ventures, Orix Capital Corporation, Yasuda Enterprise Development, and CSK Venture Capital, among other venture capital firms, mostly from Asia.