Financing will support advancement of lead HIV potential cure program into clinical development

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Excision BioTherapeutics (“Excision”), a leading developer of potentially curative CRISPR anti-viral therapies to improve patient lives, today announced the completion of a $60 million financing. The proceeds will be used to advance Excision’s lead candidate, EBT-101, into a Phase 1/2 clinical trial in patients with chronic HIV infection. The financing will also support preclinical programs including EBT-103 targeting JC Virus for Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML), EBT-104 for Herpes Simplex Virus, and EBT-107 for Hepatitis B.

The financing round was led by GreatPoint Ventures with support from existing investor ARTIS Ventures. New investors include Adjuvant Capital, Norwest Venture Partners, Anzu Partners, Cota Capital, WRVI Capital, IndusAge Partners, Loreda Holdings, and Olive Tree Capital. Ashok Krishnamurthi, Managing Partner at GreatPoint Ventures, will join the Board of Directors.

“The vast capabilities of CRISPR are beginning to be translated into treatments with the potential to cure diseases plaguing humanity,” stated Krishnamurthi. “Excision’s unique approach leverages CRISPR’s natural evolution in bacteria to target and deactivate viral genes, which promises to maximize both the safety and efficacy of its development programs. We are extremely excited to partner with the Company to bring these groundbreaking therapies to patients around the world.”

Kamel Khalili, Ph.D., Laura H. Carnell Professor and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience, Director of the Center for Neurovirology, and Director of the Comprehensive NeuroAIDS Center at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM) and the Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Consultant to Excision said, “This transformative financing will accelerate and support the research we have developed over the past decade. We have proven the technology and candidate programs in vitro and in vivo in both small animal models and primate models. We are optimistic that ongoing research will demonstrate the potential for a future therapeutic to generate functional cures for viral infectious diseases.”

Vasudev Bailey, PhD, Senior Partner at ARTIS Ventures which led Excision’s Series Seed round commented, “Over 38 million people live with HIV and more than 250 million live with Hepatitis B around the world. We are hopeful that Excision’s technology has the potential to eradicate these, as well as other diseases including PML and Herpes Virus.”

Daniel Dornbusch, CEO of Excision added, “We are encouraged by the level of interest in our approach and are thrilled to have strong support from such an outstanding group of investors, each with broad networks of support, to help advance the Company and its programs. We look forward to building the team and infrastructure to progress Excision’s innovative programs with the goal of delivering therapies to patients in need.”

This announcement was published in GlobeNewswire. Read the full press release here: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/02/17/2177053/0/en/Excision-BioTherapeutics-Completes-60-Million-Financing-to-Advance-CRISPR-Based-Infectious-Disease-Programs.html