Minoryx obtains 51 million to produce a drug against rare diseases

The biotechnology company Minoryx Therapeutics, based at Tecnocampus in Mataró and with a subsidiary in Belgium, has closed a capital increase in which it has obtained 51 million euros to finance the commercialization of the drug leriglitazone.

The development of this treatment against the rare hereditary neurodegenerative disease called X-ALD is a breakthrough in a medical field not yet covered by any other medication.

The fundraising comes after the successful clinical phase process of leriglitazone, which has proven highly effective in adult men suffering from adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN), a condition that damages the membrane of the spinal cord that insulates nerve cells in the brain and causes significant brain lesions and for which there was no treatment.

The financing round has been co-led by Columbus Venture Partners ---which will join the biotechnology company's board of directors with the incorporation of Dr. Damià Tormo--- and Caixa Capital Risc. CDTI, through its Innvierte program, has also joined the Series C round.

In the various phases of the research and development of the treatment, Minoryx has secured more than 110 million euros in funding through private investors such as the Belgian Fund+ and Ysios Capital ---who also participate in the board of directors---, and who have once again backed the company in this capital increase. The company has also obtained support from the European Investment Bank (EIB).

Founded in 2011 as a spin-off of the University of Barcelona and the Bosch i Gimpera Foundation, the biotechnology company currently has a staff of 25 people distributed between Belgium, the Mataró campus, and the Barcelona Science Park, where it has its central laboratory.

Dr. Marc Martinell, founder and CEO of Minoryx, explains that this new development phase also includes the necessary activities to proceed with the approval of leriglitazone in the United States for the same therapeutic indication and to continue investigating its benefits in other patient populations, especially pediatric patients with cerebral ALD (cALD), as well as the expansion of the treatment for women affected by X-ALD.

It should be noted that in male patients, both pediatric and adult, X-ALD can also manifest in its acute cerebral form (cALD), which causes aggressive brain inflammation leading to permanent disability and, ultimately, death within 2-4 years. The global incidence of X-ALD is approximately 6.2/100,000 babies. So much so that leriglitazone has received orphan drug status from the FDA and EMA and rare pediatric disease and fast track designation from the FDA for the treatment of X-ALD.