Boehringer leads Series A of French Imcheck

Imcheck Therapeutics SAS was founded in 2015 as a spin-off from the Institute Paoli Calmettes in Marseilles (France) by Prof. Daniel Olive. The Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF) had eyes on the start-up early on, and added Imcheck to its portfolio back then. In early May 2017, Imcheck closed its €20m Series A financing round. In addition to the BIVF, investors Kurma Partners, Idinvest, Gimv and LSP also joined in. Imcheck is developing a new generation of proprietary immuno-modulatory antibodies acting on both adaptive and innate immunity. The focus lies on a group of targets to integrate the power of γδ-T cells (innate) with the power of αβ-T cells (adaptive) to significantly improve the response and clinical outcome of modern immunotherapy approaches for hematological and as well as for solid tumor indications.

In conjunction with this financing, the privately-held French biotech company appointed Pierre d'Epenoux as Chief Executive Officer. "It is a rare opportunity to drive to clinic cutting-edge science in the red-hot competitive area of immuno-oncology. Prof. Daniel Olive and his team have built a worldwide renowned expertise in the co-signaling pathways regulating the innate and the adaptive immune systems as well as demonstrate their ability to develop and partner innovative drug candidates," d'Epenoux said.

"The significant funding raised at this stage of development of the company will provide the resources for an ambitious development plan of several drug-candidates and entry into the clinic by 2019", added Olive. The team currently comprises ten people – a number subject to increase in the weeks to come. 

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