Epicrispr Biotechnologies Rakes In $68 Million Series B

<p><strong>SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO<&sol;strong> — <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;epicrispr&period;com&sol;">Epicrispr Biotechnologies<&sol;a>&comma; a biotechnology company focused on developing curative therapies&comma; has secured &dollar;68 million in the first close of its Series B financing&period; The proceeds will support the clinical development of EPI-321&comma; a first-in-class&comma; disease-modifying therapy for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy &lpar;FSHD&rpar;&comma; a genetic neuromuscular disease&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Series B financing was led by Ally Bridge Group&comma; with participation from SOLVE FSHD&comma; the venture philanthropy organization founded Chip Wilson&comma; founder of Lululemon Athletica and FSHD patient&comma; along with other new and existing investors&period; The financing will support Epicrispr’s upcoming clinical trial of EPI-321&comma; as well as continued advancement of the company’s broader pipeline&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Epicrispr also announced clinical trial application &lpar;CTA&rpar; approval from New Zealand’s Medsafe to initiate a first-in-human trial of EPI-321&comma; the first epigenetic therapy to enter the clinic for a neuromuscular disease&period; The study is expected to begin in 2025&comma; and will evaluate the safety&comma; tolerability&comma; pharmacodynamics&comma; and biological activity of a single intravenous dose of EPI-321 in adults with FSHD&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;FSHD is one of the most common adult muscular dystrophies&comma; with estimates of up to 1 million patients affected worldwide&period; But patients have no disease-modifying therapy for this progressive disease&comma;” said Dr&period; Richard Roxburgh&comma; Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Auckland and principal investigator for the EPI-321 clinical trial&comma; which is planned to be conducted in partnership with Pacific Clinical Research Network&comma; a leading clinical research center in New Zealand&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We look forward to advancing this clinical trial which could&comma; with a single treatment&comma; permanently address the disease’s underlying cause&comma; and are hopeful that it will pave the way for new standards for therapies in genetic diseases&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>EPI-321 is an investigational one-time gene-modulating therapy designed to silence aberrant expression of DUX4&comma; a gene that is incorrectly activated in FSHD and leads to progressive muscle degeneration&period; Delivered systemically via a clinically validated AAV vector&comma; EPI-321 has demonstrated robust suppression of DUX4 expression and protection of muscle tissue in preclinical models&period; EPI-321 has received FDA Fast Track&comma; Rare Pediatric Disease&comma; and Orphan Drug designations&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We are developing a first-in-class&comma; one-time epigenetic therapy that targets the genetic root cause of FSHD&comma;” said Amber Salzman&comma; Ph&period;D&period;&comma; CEO&comma; Epicrispr Biotechnologies&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The Series B financing and regulatory clearance to begin our first-in-human trial marks a pivotal milestone as we become a clinical-stage company&period; With a strong investor syndicate and recent FDA designations recognizing EPI-321’s potential&comma; our team is laser-focused on advancing EPI-321 into the clinic to provide a much-needed therapy to patients and families in desperate need&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;With a robust body of data validating the potential of EPI-321 and the GEMS platform broadly&comma; Epicrispr has shown itself to be a leading epigenetic editing company&comma;” said Andrew Lam&comma; Pharm&period;D&period;&comma; Managing Director&comma; Head of Biotech Private Equity&comma; Ally Bridge Group&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We are proud to lead this investment in Epicrispr’s future&comma; and we look forward to partnering with their leadership to support their continued success&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;As someone living with FSHD&comma; I know the devastating impact of this disease and the urgent need for treatments that target its root cause&comma;” said Chip Wilson&comma; founder and Chairman of SOLVE FSHD&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We commend Epicrispr’s commitment in advancing EPI-321 for FSHD and are glad to be part of this financing to support its transition to the clinic&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;