News
Logo Signia Therapeutics

Signia Therapeutics announces achievement of corporate milestones

November 28, 2017

LYON, FRANCE (November 28, 2017) – Signia Therapeutics is an emerging company, spin-off company of VirPath laboratoy/Université Claude Bernard Lyon (UCBL), that proposes an innovative and versatile platform for antiviral drug discovery and repositioning or recycling based on a global targeting of the host cell instead of specific viral molecular determinants. The research strategy is based on the direct exploitation of clinical samples from infected patients and the characterization by NGS of relevant in vivo transcriptomic signatures of infections, in an innovative bedside-to-bench and bench-to-bedside approach. The Company’s capabilities are well adapted to study the pathogenesis of respiratory acute infections and provide a breakthrough methodology for the identification and validation of highly effective and broad-spectrum antivirals.

I-Lab 2017 Laureate

Signia Therapeutics is very proud to announce that it is laureate of the I-Lab 2017 award from the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, and BpiFrance. Initiated in 1999, I-Lab is a very selective national contest aimed at highlighting the excellence of young companies in the field of innovative technologies. This financial support of 300,000 Euros will help to accelerate the validation of new antivirals selected through Signia’s proprietary platform and reinforce intellectual property protection for the Company’s drug portfolio.

Shareholders

The Company is also pleased to welcome as new shareholders two experienced Biotech executives, Mr. Philippe Archinard CEO of Transgene and Mr. Fabrice Plasson CEO of Amoeba, as well as EZUS, a private subsidiary of the Université Claude Bernard Lyon. These investors will be part of Signia Therapeutics Strategic Committee bringing their strong expertise and networks to support the Company’s growth plans.

About Signia Therapeutics

The Company’s proposes a breakthrough strategy to identify and repurpose rapidly, efficiently and at low cost already marketed drugs or to recycle unused drugs for new antiviral indication against several human respiratory viruses. These antiviral candidates could be directly evaluated in phase II clinical trials and/or quickly available in response to any widespread outbreak for which the medical community and patients have limited options.

Acute respiratory tract infections (ARTI) represent the main cause of acute diseases worldwide and remain the number one cause of deaths in newborns and young children (nearly 2 million deaths/year). These respiratory pathogens represent a major public health issue and have a large socio-economic impact. Up to now, very few efficient vaccines or antiviral candidate treatments have been reported in the medical literature to widely fight against these respiratory pathogens, with the exception of those available against influenza viruses. In an effort to treat these various ARTIs, consumers spend $2-3 billion each year, yet new efficient antiviral strategies, less prone to the emergence of resistance, are necessary.

Signia Therapeutic’s drug discovery platform has already demonstrated its significant potential with proofs-of-concept already established for several FDA-approved drugs that were validated for new anti-influenza and anti-MERS-CoV indications. Ongoing programs are currently conducted by Signia Therapeutics and dedicated to the selection and validation of new broad-spectrum antiviral compounds against human respiratory syncytial virus, human metapneumovirus and human coronaviruses.

With the advancement of its proprietary know-how, patented technology and the constitution of its own database, Signia Therapeutics will be in an advantageous position to establish various forms of collaborations and partnerships with pharmaceutical and specialty pharma companies, based on both the Company’s know-how, proprietary drug discovery platform and drug portfolio. www.signiatherapeutics.com

Leave a comment

Signia therapeutics.com - Copyright 2021. All right reserved.