Seekyo, a Poitiers, France-based biotech startup specializing in the development of the next generation of chemotherapies, raised €800k in funding.
Backers included the French Tech Seed Fund and investors from the BAdGE, INVESTESSOR and SYNERGENCE business angel networks, reinforced by a €150k ($167K) European Investment Fund (EIF) Investment Initiation Loan.
The capital will allow the company to accelerate the development of its flagship drug candidate, before launching a new fundraising round that will address clinical trials.
Co-founded in 2018 by Oury Chetboun and Prof Sébastien Papot (CNRS/University of Poitiers, France). Seekyo develops a drug candidate that can specifically target solid tumors (pancreas, lung, triple negative breast, colon, head and neck). Based on its patented molecular platform, the drug is transported in an innocuous manner in the form of therapeutic vectors that detect the tumor and trigger its anticancer activity only in malignant tissues. The drug is activated in the tumor microenvironment via an extracellular and highly specific enzymatic cleavage. This increases the effectiveness of anticancer drugs, while considerably reducing their adverse effects.
FinSMEs
20/01/2020