The Galician company Oncostellae opens a €3.3 million capital increase to develop a drug for ulcerative colitis and a second one for colorectal cancer.
- The biopharmaceutical company specializing in molecules for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases has two advanced projects, the first in clinical phase II and the second in clinical phase I.
- With the capital increase, the company expects to have the capacity to complete the clinical trials and license these new drugs in 2024 and 2026.
Santiago de Compostela, 5 December 2022. Galician biopharmaceutical company Oncostellae has opened a 3.3 million euro funding round that it will allocate to complete clinical trials for two molecules targeting digestive tract diseases. Of the 3.3 million euros in the round, 1.3 million will be covered by venture capital firms Inveready, XesGalicia, FiTalent, and Unirisco, alongside entrepreneur Julio Castro, co-founder of Oncostellae. The remaining two million euros will be completed through the online equity crowdfunding platform Capital Cell, which specializes in biomedicine. Currently, Oncostellae already has 176 investors participating in the capital increase, surpassing 60% of the targeted fundraising through the Capital Cell platform.
Oncostellae specializes in developing molecules for oncological and gastrointestinal immunological treatments addressing ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, and colorectal cancer—a constantly growing market with remaining unmet clinical needs. Its business model relies on discovering new molecules backed by robust intellectual property and global rights, developing them from clinical phases up to securing a pharmaceutical license.
The biopharmaceutical team, led by Dr. Guido Kurz, brings together a combined experience of over 25 developed products and has contributed to closing multiple licensing deals and acquisitions. Notable achievements include the 2014 license transfer from Oryzon to Roche for 525 million euros and the 2015 deal from Palobiofarma to Novartis secured by Dr. Castro, co-founder and promoter of Oncostellae.
«With the resources obtained in this round, we will complete the clinical trials to position the company to license at least one of these two projects in 2024, or instead raise a Series A, which will allow us to continue developing the projects and open a second licensing scenario in 2026,» notes Guido Kurz, CEO of Oncostellae. Today, Oncostellae features a drug in clinical phase IIa (OST-122, for ulcerative colitis) and a drug in clinical phase I (OST-499 for colorectal cancer), in addition to other developments in earlier phases.
About Oncostellae
Oncostellae is a biopharmaceutical company founded in 2013 by a group of expert drug discovery researchers led by Drs. Julio Castro and Mabel Loza. The firm focuses on developing local and safe treatments for gastrointestinal diseases: ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, and colorectal cancer. Its business model centers on discovering new molecules, advancing them through clinical phases, and subsequently licensing them to pharmaceutical companies.
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