Martinsried-based mRNA company Ethris announced today that it has raised USD 26.3 million (23.3 million euros) in a Series B funding round led by Laureus Capital.

The Series B proceeds will be used in part to advance the company's two lead programmes into clinical trials. The therapeutic candidate ETH47 - a broad-spectrum antiviral immunomodulator - showed viral load reduction and survival extension in preclinical studies in in vivo challenge models for influenza and SARS-CoV-2. The second programme ETH42 is a protein replacement therapy for primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD), a rare congenital disease caused by structural defects or absence of the cilia that line our airways.

In addition, the company's proprietary and differentiated mRNA and lipidoid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery platforms will be further developed and the company's manufacturing capabilities expanded. Dr. Christian Wawrzinek, founder of Laureus Capital, will join Ethris as Managing Director and Chief Corporate Strategy Officer, assisting with strategic and operational planning.

Ethris is a spin-off of the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. Founded in 2009, the company was supported by the BMBF through its GO-Bio funding programme. In 2017, the Munich-based start-up Ethris entered into a five-year collaboration with AstraZeneca to further develop mRNA therapies. Ethris received an upfront payment of 25 million euros. Another collaboration with Zurich-based Neurimmune aimed at developing an inhaled therapy to treat patients suffering from COVID-19 was announced in spring 2020. Further financial backing is now provided by Laureus.