Poxel SA raises €17.7m through capital increase

The gross proceeds of this reserved offering of about €17.69m will be used to "accelerate the development of Poxel’s clinical compounds PXL770 and PXL065 for the treatment of NASH, to pursue development activities in other metabolic diseases and for general corporate purposes," said Thomas Kuhn, CEO of Poxel SA. A share of 22.6% of the reserved offering was subscribed by Bpifrance Participations, FCPR Innobio Ltd (7.64%), Poxel’s founders (9.54%), Roivant Sciences Ltd (5.04%), and Andera Partners (14.63%) also participated in the offering.

Poxel’s development pipeline is focussed on type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Poxel’s lead product Imeglimin, which targets mitochondrial dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes, has passed Phase III testing and is set to be commercialised in Japan by Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma. Poxel has partnered with Roivant Sciences for commercialization of the product in the rest of the world. PXL770, an AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activator, is currently tested in an ongoing Phase IIa study. PXL065, a mitochondrial pyruvate carrier inhibitor, has successfully passed Phase I tests and is ready to be evaluated in patients with NASH, now. Earlier-stage programmes target metabolic, specialty and rare diseases.