Apeiron Biologics AG will complete a capital increase to finance the further development of APN01 for the treatment of severely ill COVID-19 patients as well as the development of immuno-oncology projects.
The Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) will lead the financing round and secures the private placement as an anchor investor, investment commitments from existing shareholders and new institutional and private international investors have been provided.
In addition, the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), the Vienna Business Agency (WAW), the Austrian promotional bank (AWS) and the Erste Bank have committed grant funding and guarantees.
APN01 is one of the most advanced drug candidates for the treatment of COVID-19 and one of the few therapy approaches specifically targeting the coronavirus, because it imitates the receptor ACE2 and thus offers a unique dual approach to treatment.
Experts believe that accelerated market approval could be completed if the study shows positive results.
