InnoSkel Launches with $24 Million to Tackle Rare Skeletal Diseases

Rare Daily Staff

French biotech InnoSkel has launched with $24 million (€20 million) in a series A financing to develop gene therapies for rare skeletal diseases.

Jeito Capital and Vida Ventures led the financing with participation from Turenne Group and Région Sud Investissement. Proceeds will be used to advance the company’s lead program to clinical stage operations.

InnoSkel is developing treatment options for a group of rare skeletal disorders collectively known as type 2 collagenopathies that affect the structure of the body’s connective tissues (collagen). InnoSkel’s lead asset, and initial point of focus, is a gene therapy for spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita (SEDc), a type 2 collagenopathy that develops in infancy and affects approximately 1 in 100,000 individuals worldwide.

SEDc is the second leading cause of dwarfism worldwide and is characterized by very short stature, severe skeletal and joint malformations, and abnormalities affecting the eyes and ears. InnoSkel’s asset has demonstrated compelling efficacy in proof-of-concept studies conducted at the Institut de Biologie Valrose of the University Cote d’Azur, Nice, France.

“Innoskel is committed to developing transformative therapies for patients with skeletal dysplasia who currently have no viable treatment options and experience poor quality of life as a result,” said Elvire Gouze, founder and CEO of InnoSkel. “We are extremely excited to progress our novel gene therapy for SEDc, as well as our broader therapy platform, and will be working closely with the patient community as we move forwards.

Gouze is an expert in skeletal disorders who sold her first company Therachon and its lead phase 1 asset for the treatment of achondroplasia to Pfizer in 2019. While Therachon focused on biologics to treat rare skeletal diseases, InnoSkel will focus on gene therapies.

In addition to preclinical research, the funds will allow InnoSkel to further develop its broader asset pipeline targeting novel therapies for a range of rare skeletal disorders where there is severe unmet medical need. There are more than 350 of these disorders. InnoSkel also intends to use the funds to expand its management and laboratory teams internationally.

InnoSkel is a spin-out of the Institut de Biologie Valrose at Inserm, the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, and is based in Nice, France.

Photo: Elvire Gouze, founder and CEO of InnoSkel