French biotech startup Biodol Therapeutics secures €7M to treat chronic pain: Know more

Montarnaud-based Biodol Therapeutics, a French biotech company developing next-generation pain treatments, announced on Tuesday, May 21, that it has been awarded €7M by BPI France through the i-DEMO call for projects. 

This funding will support the company’s first-in-human clinical trials.

With support from the venture capital fund V-Bio Ventures, Biodol Therapeutics will lead a consortium that includes the Institute for Neurosciences of Montpellier, and the Laboratory for Therapeutic Innovation in Strasbourg.

An “innovative” treatment for chronic pain

Founded in 2015, Biodol Therapeutics claims to develop “first-in-class” compounds for the treatment of chronic pain. It has identified the Receptor Tyrosine Kinase (RTK) FLT3 as crucial in causing and maintaining chronic neuropathic pain.

The company focuses on developing allosteric inhibitors of the FLT3 receptor, a key player in chronic neuropathic pain. It co-owns a portfolio of patents with French research institutes such as the Universities of Montpellier and Strasbourg, INSERM, and CNRS.

Organisations including BPI France, Satt AxLR, Inserm Transfert, Region Occitanie, the French National Research Agency, SEMIA Incubator and Montpellier Business and Innovation Centre, have also supported the company.

Biodol Therapeutics’ programme, endorsed by French competitiveness clusters Eurobiomed and Biovalley France, aligns with the France 2030 plan to boost “innovative” and “high-value” companies. 

The company’s main goal is to bring its clinical candidate, BDT272, to trials by the end of 2024.

Capital utilisation

The proceeds will support the first human trials of BDT272, a new pain treatment. BDT272 has shown an “excellent and complete” GLP safety/toxicology data package along with “exceptional” activity in a wide range of preclinical pain models.

The funds will also help advance Biodol Therapeutics’ “innovative” programme of small-molecule extracellular negative allosteric modulators (NAMs) of the FLT3 receptor.

The FLT3 receptor plays a key role in pain mechanisms, and blocking it in a specific way has shown potential benefits, as highlighted in several international publications.

This method, known as FLT3 negative allosteric modulation, is emerging as a “promising” drug development innovation in an indication with high medical needs, says Biodol.

Brief about V-Bio Ventures

Founded in 2015, V-Bio Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in life science companies. The firm works closely with VIB, a science institute in Belgium. 

V-Bio Ventures invests in European early-stage startups and companies with high growth potential. It focuses on technologies that can make big improvements in sectors such as biopharmaceutical, pharmaceutical, diagnostics and agriculture.