The Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) announced that its CIT GAP Funds closed an investment in Biotherapeutics, Inc., a Blacksburg-based company advancing therapeutics to treat inflammation and diabetes.
BioTherapeutics, Inc. (BTI) is a pre-clinical stage company that has established an innovative platform for developing safer and more effective small-molecule drugs to treat inflammation associated with autoimmune related disorders and diabetes by targeting novel therapeutic targets.
CIT President and CEO Pete Jobse said, “The experienced team at Biotherapeutics is developing an innovative means to satisfy an unmet need in the treatment of inflammatory disease. Current treatment options available in the market are often costly and come with significant side effects. Our investment reflects our confidence in their plans to develop a new more effective and economic solution.”
Biotherapeutics’ lead candidate bridges the gap between oral steroid therapy and other treatments available via IV or injection, requiring frequent visits to clinics and monitoring. BTI’s lead candidate has a unique mechanism of action, and it is based on a novel signaling pathway, which the company has exclusively licensed from Virginia Tech.
Josep Bassaganya-Riera, PhD, Biotherapeutics President and CEO, said, “The investment from the CIT GAP Funds will be utilized to perform additional safety and efficacy studies for BTI’s top lead compounds and advance them along the regulatory pipeline towards investigational new drug (IND) approval. This is a vital step in the process of developing an alternative that is orally active, efficacious, safe, and easy to administer.”
CIT GAP Funds is a family of seed- and early-stage investment funds placing near-equity and equity investments in Virginia-based high-growth technology, life science and clean technology companies.
Tom Weithman, CIT vice president and GAP Funds Managing Director, said, “We look for entrepreneurs who can find new ways to solve our complicated problems. The BTI team epitomizes what we search for throughout our process. The investments allow these companies to grow and contribute to Virginia’s innovation economy while providing solutions that meet important needs.”
Since its 2005 launch, CIT GAP Funds has invested in over 100 companies across the Commonwealth of Virginia, deploying more than $13 million of public funds and attracting over $200 million more in private funding.
About Biotherapeutics, www.biotherapeuticsinc.com
A pre-clinical stage, small-molecule company advancing therapeutics for inflammation and diabetes. BioTherapeutics was established in 2008 with the mission to develop safer and more effective treatments for human diseases. The company holds numerous patents on innovative mechanisms of anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic action. The technology was validated with numerous pre-clinical studies resulting in 12 peer-reviewed publications elucidating a novel pathway and showing the compounds to be both safe and effective. Currently Biotherapeutics is expanding rapidly to support additional pre-clinical studies with the goal of submitting an IND application to the Food and Drug Administration.
About the Center for Innovative Technology, www.cit.org
Since 1985, CIT, a nonprofit corporation, has been Virginia’s primary driver of innovation and entrepreneurship. CIT accelerates the next generation of technology and technology companies through commercialization, capital formation, market development and revenue generation services. To facilitate national innovation leadership and accelerate the rate of technology adoption, CIT creates partnerships between innovative technology start-up companies and advanced technology consumers. CIT’s CAGE Code is 1UP71. To learn more, please visit www.cit.org. Follow CIT on Twitter @CITorg and add the Center for Innovative Technology on LinkedIn and Facebook.
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