Sigilon Raises $80.3 Million to Advance Its Technology into the Clinic

Sigilon Therapeutics has completed an $80.3 million series B financing to support the first-in-human clinical trial of its novel encapsulated cell therapy for hemophilia A, as well as continued advancement and expansion of its programs in rare blood disorders, lysosomal diseases, and endocrine and immune disorders.

Photo: Rogerio Vivaldi, president and CEO of Sigilon

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Longevity Vision Fund, and funds managed by BlackRock joined founding investor Flagship Pioneering and other existing investors, including Eli Lilly, in the financing round.

Founded by Flagship Pioneering in 2016, Sigilon is developing a pipeline of “living therapeutics” of long-lasting cell therapies that can safely exist within the body. The company said its Afibromer technology—which does not trigger the body’s natural protective response to foreign objects—represents a new class of breakthrough implantable biomaterials. Engineered cells inside these Afibromer capsules secrete therapeutic proteins, providing patients safe and long-lasting treatment for chronic diseases.

“Sigilon is driven to liberate patients from the fear of living with serious chronic diseases, and from alternative therapeutic approaches,” said Rogerio Vivaldi, president and CEO of Sigilon. “We believe encapsulating engineered human cells in our proprietary matrix will enable us to deliver controlled doses of therapeutic proteins without the need for immunosuppression and without the risks associated with modifying patients’ genomes.”

In 2018 Sigilon entered into a collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology to Sigilon’s proprietary cell technology with synthetic biology approaches developed by Ron Weiss, a professor at the MIT Synthetic Biology Center, to access best-in-class methods for in vivo delivery of therapeutic proteins.

Sigilon’s lead experimental therapy for hemophilia A, SIG-001, has received Orphan Drug designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Sigilon expects to initiate a clinical trial of SIG-001 in the first half of 2020.

Author: Rare Daily Staff