Truffle Capital Debuts ABIVAX, A Company Focused On Vaccines and Antivirals

Creation of ABIVAX - a Leader in Therapeutic Vaccines and the First French Company to Sign an Exclusive Partnering Agreement with Cuba in Healthcare

Truffle Capital founded ABIVAX by merging three French companies and building on a collaboration with the Cuban Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology

PARIS-Truffle Capital has announced the creation of Paris-based ABIVAX in collaboration with the Cuban Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB). This is the first ever start-up launched on the basis of a Euro-Cuban R&D collaboration. The goal of ABIVAX is to become a global leader in therapeutic vaccines and antivirals, leveraging both its existing product pipelines and future acquisitions that are currently in negotiations.

ABIVAX specializes in therapeutic vaccines and antivirals, combining the technologies and the product portfolios of three French biotech companies financed by Truffle Capital (Wittycell, Splicos and Zophis). An exclusive partnership agreement with the CIGB has been approved by the Cuban government and will further enrich the portfolio. The CIGB is the largest subsidiary under BioCubaFarma that specializes in the discovery, development and production of vaccines and antivirals. ABIVAX already possesses several key assets including complementary technology platforms, a high-value product portfolio and an experienced top management team.

The most advanced products in the portfolio of ABIVAX target a variety of major medical needs. They include: a therapeutic vaccine for chronic hepatitis B (which leads to cirrhosis and liver cancer) from CIGB and Wittycell; a novel anti-viral drug for AIDS from Splicos, an anti-HPV therapeutic vaccine to treat, without surgery, uterine cervix dysplasia and prevent the emergence of cancer from Wittycell, a novel adjuvant to boost NKT and B cell response from Wittycell. Thus, ABIVAX already has two therapeutic vaccines in development, one in a Phase IIb clinical trial in patients with chronic hepatitis B, and the other one expected to enter into a Phase I clinical trial in 2015 for the treatment of chronic infection with human papilloma virus and cervical dysplasia (an early stage in cervical cancer). The adjuvant is in Phase I clinical studies. In the field of AIDS, the company's first antiviral drug displays a novel mechanism of action, which might translate into a long-term effect on viral load reduction. It is scheduled to enter clinical trials in Q1 2014. Additional therapeutic vaccines are in preclinical development.

www.abivax.com
www.truffle.com
www.cigb.edu.cu

Contacts

Alize RP
Caroline Carmagnol: +33 664-189-959
caroline@alizerp.com

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