EpiEndo Announces €2.7 million Investment by the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund

The Fund, created by the European Commission in 2020, aims to provide direct equity investments in breakthrough innovation companies and offer the opportunity for other private investors to co-fund such highly innovative companies. 

“We are honoured to receive this facility from the European Innovation Council Fund, which recognises the significant potential for EpiEndo’s unique approach,” commented Maria Bech, CEO of EpiEndo, “and we are very proud to have the Fund participating as a lender, and potentially investor, in EpiEndo Pharmaceuticals as we move our lead programme for COPD into the clinic.”

José Fernando Figueiredo, EIC Fund Investment Committee member said “EpiEndo Pharmaceuticals is a great example of a life science company that is creating a first-in-class epithelial barrier-enhancing medicine for respiratory diseases. This round will enable the company to bring closer to market their new candidate drug, EP395, with the ultimate goal of providing effective treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).”

EpiEndo is uniquely focused on restoration of epithelial barrier integrity as a causal underlying driver of disease pathophysiology, common across a range of inflammatory conditions. The integrity of epithelial tissues, which line the inner and outer surfaces of the human body, including the skin, blood vessels and organs, may be compromised in inflammatory disease states, enhancing permeability of antigens and infectious agents into tissues and preventing resolution.

EP395, the Company’s lead compound is an orally active non-antibiotic macrolide therapeutic with potential to become a first-in-class treatment of chronic airway diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), asthma, bronchiectasis (BE), diffuse pan-bronchiolitis (DPB), as well as other inflammatory disorders. COPD is a chronic inflammatory disorder that leads to progressive obstruction of the airway caused primarily by exposure to smoke and environmental pollution. Globally COPD is responsible for about 5% of deaths, with current on-market inhaled therapies offering symptomatic relief only.

About EpiEndo Pharmaceuticals (www.epiendo.com)

EpiEndo is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a unique approach to inflammatory disorders through focusing on enhancement of epithelial barrier integrity as a causal pathophysiological factor underlying the etiology of a number of major diseases. Epithelial cells are a key component of the barrier that makes up human skin and lung tissue, as well as the intestinal tract and genitalia. Comprise of the integrity of this barrier is implicated in the progression and non-resolution of inflammation.
EpiEndo is developing a proprietary portfolio of orally available macrolide drug candidates with promise as first-in-class disease-modifying therapeutics, to address the huge global burden of chronic respiratory diseases and other significant unmet medical needs.
EpiEndo’s lead drug candidate, EP395, aims to be the first on-market oral, disease modifying, non-antibiotic, barrier strengthening and anti-inflammatory macrolide for COPD.

About the European Innovation Council Fund

Established in June 2020, the European Innovation Council Fund (EIC Fund) is a breakthrough initiative of the European Commission with a mission to make direct equity and quasi-equity investments (between €500,000 and €15 million) in European high impact and deep tech start-ups and scale ups. The EIC Fund provides patient capital and invests in companies from any sector, across all EU countries, and also countries associated with Horizon 2020.The Fund pays particular attention to empower and support female founders as well as contributing to reduce the innovation divide among EU countries.

The EIC Fund aims to fill a critical financing gap and its main purpose is not to maximise financial investment returns, but to have a high impact by assisting disruptive technology companies with their growth. Its objective is to crowd in market players, further sharing risks by building a large network of capital providers and strategic partners suitable for co-investments and follow on funding.For more information, please visit https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_2530

For more information, please visit www.epiendo.com

Contact
Maria Bech

CEO
E-mail: maria.bech@epiendo.com

Tel: [+44] 208 133 8664

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of the Company. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance, or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this presentation. The information in this presentation is subject to updating, completion, revision, further verification, and amendment without notice and the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information.