EU Provides $35.7 Million Loan to Support Red Blood Cell Technology to Treat Rare Diseases

Rare Daily Staff

The European Investment Bank will provide a €30 million loan to EryDel, a late-stage biotech company developing therapies based on its proprietary red blood cell technology for the treatment of rare diseases.

The European Union Bank’s loan is backed by a guarantee from the European Fund for Strategic Investments, the main pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe under which the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Commission are working together as strategic partners. EIB is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its member states.

EryDel’s proprietary platform technology is an easy-to-use, fast, and automatic bedside procedure for encapsulating small and large molecules including therapeutic enzymes in patients’ own red blood cells. The cells are immediately re-infused into patients, providing prolonged half-life in circulation, reduced immunogenicity, better tolerability and predictable vascular distribution.

EryDel’s most advanced product is being developed to treat ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T), a rare neurodegenerative childhood disease that causes severe disability. A completed phase 2 trial in A-T patients demonstrated statistically significant efficacy of EryDex on both the primary and secondary endpoints. An international multi-center phase 3 pivotal study is currently being conducted.

EryDel’s platform RBC technology will be applied to treat other rare diseases as well. The financing will support ongoing R&D by the company and its network of partners, which encompasses research institutes, clinical centers, and patient associations.

“The Investment Plan for Europe has a very strong track record in identifying and supporting innovative technology companies,” said Paolo Gentiloni, European Commissioner for the Economy. “With the financing of the Italian company EryDel and its pioneering RBC technology, we will help push the boundaries of what is possible in the treatment of rare diseases to the benefit of patients in Europe and across the world.”

Luca Benatti, CEO of EryDel said the financing will help the company realize its vision of becoming a fully integrated company that can bring innovative therapies to patients.

“The EIB clearly recognizes the unmet medical need for effective therapies for rare diseases and the potential to help patients in Europe and around the world, and supports our belief that in the future there will be effective therapies developed by EryDel for a wide range of rare diseases,” he said.

Photo: Luca Benatti, CEO of EryDel