Sophia Antipolis: Biosantech has raised the largest ever investment through crowdfunding in France in order to finance what could be the world’s first therapeutic AIDS vaccine. The results of the vaccine’s effectiveness in patients infected by HIV are currently being compiled and this funding will be used to speed up the validation process in order to bring the vaccine to market.
A symbolic success for crowdfunding in France
The innovative company Biosantech, created in 2011 and managed by Corinne Treger in Sophia Antipolis, has announced funding of €803,000 via the crowdfunding platform Happy Capital to finance the development of its AIDS vaccine.The initial objective was set at €500,000 in February 2014 (› see our article) for this participatory fundraising that quickly excited investors. In total, 107 investors chose to invest between €500 (the entry-level investment) and €20,000. The biotech company exceeded its initial objective (€500k) by 160% achieving the largest investment in France raised through crowdfunding, according to the Journal des Entreprises.
This investment will enable the team to acquire new skills and finance the clinical trials which could lead to the world’s first therapeutic vaccine to combat AIDS.
Towards the world’s first therapeutic AIDS vaccine
The world’s only vaccine likely to be effective against all variants of AIDS, the vaccine developed by Biosantech is therapeutic and not preventative, meaning that it aims to cure HIV positive patients and not prevent people from contracting the virus. The project is currently in phase 2 of a three-phase validation process before being brought to market:- A trial carried out on seven macaques in 2006 demonstrated that the vaccination eliminated 100 % of the virus.
- Phase I of the authorisation process by the French national drug and health product safety agency, ANSM, which began in April 2013, tested the vaccine on 48 patients at the Conception Hospital in Marseille. No adverse side effects were observed.
- The first stage of phase II, conducted on 48 patients between September 2013 and December 2014, consisted in determining the most effective medication dose. The aim of the second stage (phase IIb) will be to verify the absence of adverse side effects, the production of antibodies and an undetectable viremia after two months of stopping triple therapy. The results of this phase will be published at the end of 2014 and will guide the vaccine towards a short and definitive or long-term treatment, in addition to or instead of triple therapy.
- If the results are satisfactory, Biosantech will enter phase III, with a trial to compare the effectiveness over several thousand people, the final step prior to commercialisation (phase IV: Marketing Authorisation).
Huge hopes
There are big hopes for the Biosantech vaccine. 35 million people live with HIV AIDS worldwide and 1.6 million died in 2012 according to UNAIDS, which puts the cost of the fight against aids at 19 billion dollars a year. The therapeutic vaccine would be a happy alternative to triple therapies, which are very restrictive and have many side effects and cost between 1,000 and 1,500 euros a month per patient in western countries.The Team
Biosantech was created in 2011 by Roger and Corinne Treger (CEO) and is based in Sophia Antipolis. The therapeutic vaccine was developed by Dr Erwann Loret, a researcher at the CNRS. The project, developed in partnership with the CNRS and the University of Aix Marseille, received the backing of the Institut International pour le Développement et le Soutien en Recherche Innovante (IIDSRSI) managed by Michel-Paul Correa and its scientific committee of 13 researchers and experts and chaired by Prof. Chermann, co-discoverer of the AIDS virus. Doctor Jean de Marueil, immunologist and virologist is the scientific advisor.The start-up owns the exclusive licence to develop and market the patents.
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