Oss, The Netherlands-based Citryll, a biotech company, announced on Monday that it has closed an oversubscribed €85M in a Series B funding round.
The funding was co-led by Johnson & Johnson (through its corporate venture capital organisation, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc.), Forbion, and Novartis Venture Fund.
Others, including Pureos Bioventures, alongside existing investors BioGeneration Ventures, Seventure Partners, BOM, Curie Capital, and Citryll’s founders, also participated in the round.
The company will use the funds to advance the clinical development of CIT-013. This first-in-class monoclonal antibody targets Neutrophil Extracellular Traps (NETs), a fundamental component of the inflammatory process that has yet to be addressed therapeutically.
As a part of the funding, Geert-Jan Mulder, Managing Partner at Forbion, Florian Muellershausen, Managing Director at Novartis Venture Fund, and a representative of JJDC, will join Citryll’s Board as non-executive directors.
Eduardo Bravo, Chief Executive Officer of Citryll, comments, “Securing funding from such a fantastic range of global life sciences investors, who share our excitement for the potential of CIT-013, strengthens the next steps for our clinical development program. We believe our NET-targeting approach, developed by the company founders Renato Chirivi, Helmuth van Es, and the late Jos Raats, has the potential to be beneficial in conditions where current therapies fall short.”
Citryll: Advancing NET-targeting therapy
Citryll was founded by ModiQuest B.V., originator of the tACPA patents, Helmuth van Es, CEO of Citryll, and Renato Chirivi, CSO of Citryll and co-inventor of tACPA.
Led by Eduardo Bravo, Citryll is pioneering a transformative approach to treating immune-mediated inflammatory diseases by targeting Neutrophil Extracellular Traps (NETs)
NETs are web-like structures composed of DNA, histones, and antimicrobial proteins, released by neutrophils to trap and degrade pathogens.
Excessive NET formation can contribute to tissue damage and chronic inflammation in various immune-mediated inflammatory disorders.
The Dutch company recently completed its first-in-human Phase 1 trials, which included successful repeat dosing of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.
Phase 2a trials are set to take place for both rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and hidradenitis suppurativa (HS).
These trials aim to confirm how CIT-013 works by helping to clear existing neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) and preventing the creation of new ones.
CIT-013 is very specific to its target, reducing unwanted side effects and not entering cells, keeping normal cell functions intact.
While initially focusing on RA and HS, Citryll’s NET-targeting approach has potential applications across a wide range of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases.
Forbion: Global life sciences VC firm
Forbion invests in innovative biotech companies, managing approximately €5B across multiple fund strategies that cover all stages of (bio-) pharmaceutical drug development.
In addition, the company utilises its biotech expertise beyond human health to address ‘planetary health’ challenges through its BioEconomy fund strategy, which invests in companies developing sustainable solutions in food, agriculture, materials, and environmental technologies.
Since its launch over two decades ago, the company has made 128 investments.
Geert-Jan Mulder, Managing Partner at Forbion, said: “Citryll’s progress highlights the potential of a novel NET-targeting therapy to address significant unmet needs in inflammatory disorders, offering hope for conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and hidradenitis suppurativa, where many patients lack adequate disease control. Together with new and existing investors we are proud to support the outstanding team to further advance this truly differentiated program into clinical development for inflammatory disorders.”
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