Dilaforette: Going public with a new name

Dilaforette Holding AB, a Karolinska Development portfolio company, is all grown up – and it shows in a new name. It has changed its name to Modus Therapeutics Holding, a move that signifies the company’s emancipation from its parent company Dilafor, from which it was spun out in 2011. The company is also planning an IPO in Sweden and a rights issue to finance the further clinical development of its lead candidate sevuparin.  Sevuparin is a heparin-derived polysaccharide that is currently being evaluated in Phase II for sickle cell disease. Modus has received Orphan Drug Designation for sevuparin for use in this blood disorder in the US and EU.

“Modus Therapeutics is entering an exciting phase with the opportunity to develop sevuparin in sickle cell disease in two separate uses based on promising data, recently published in the British Journal of Haematology,” commented Christina Herder, CEO of Modus Therapeutics. “Sevuparin is now in Phase II clinical trials and we have a clear objective to advance this promising candidate through these trials to establish clinical proof of concept in both a hospital and a home setting over the next years.”

Viktor Drvota, Chief Investment Officer at Karolinska Development and recently elected as new member of Modus Therapeutics Board of Directors, added: “Modus Therapeutics has established a strong basis with sevuparin in SCD from which to advance to the next value inflection milestones. The proposed IPO would provide further support to the Company to build on its encouraging clinical findings with sevuparin and develop a potentially best- and first-in-class treatment for SCD patients with few effective therapeutic options. Modus Therapeutics is one of several companies in our portfolio that are expected to deliver important milestones in the coming years and we are delighted with how this portfolio is maturing.”