GREATER MANCHESTER, UK – Today, Carocell Bio, the UK-based anti-inflammation therapeutics company, is pleased to announce a further £150,000 in funding from Deepbridge Capital. The investment follows successful pre-clinical studies with the company’s JEL3108 lead anti-inflammatory peptide. JEL3108 provides a potential first-line treatment for scar prevention and the treatment of burns, including the reduction of burn pain.
Ben Carter, Investment Manager, Deepbridge Capital, said:
“We are excited to be deepening our support of Carocell Bio and its promising portfolio of novel anti-inflammatory peptides, which continues to move from strength to strength in terms of formulation and pre-clinical data. Our continued investment reflects the significant potential of Carocell Bio’s innovative therapeutic approach to meet serious unmet clinical need – where inflammation often plays a key role. We look forward to further developments of these peptides as they progress towards clinical testing.”
Dr Mike Davies, CEO, Carocell Bio, said:
“We are pleased at the further investment provided by Deepbridge Capital, which will be used to further our development of our patent portfolio of peptides for anti-inflammatory applications including burns, scarring and other serious, chronic skin conditions, some of which currently have no effective cure.
“By developing a suitable formulation and progressing to pre-clinical studies, we are moving our peptides closer to testing in the clinic – unlocking their significant potential to positively impact patients’ lives and quality of life.”
The proprietary peptides driving Carocell Bio’s therapeutic pipeline offer a novel anti-inflammatory mechanism, which is highly selective for mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK, p38-alpha), and which inhibits an important component in the intracellular inflammation cascade. The company’s lead peptide, JEL3108, binds in an advantageous way to its target and is highly selective, with greater than 150-fold selectivity for p38-alpha over p38-beta, and around 10,000-fold selectivity over other kinases [1, 2], meaning that it delivers a very targeted and potentially safer treatment. Formulated using nanoparticle delivery systems to enhance cell penetration, the peptides are designed for topical delivery.
Carocell Bio is now focused on refining its nanoparticle-based formulation and delivery system for first-line treatment applications, with the goal of entering the clinic by early 2024.
References
- Based upon internal data.
- US patent US10293024B2. https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search/family/049301752/publication/US10293024B2?q=US10293024.
