Unlisted Australian company Servatus has announced it has secured $7.5 million in an oversubscribed capital raise.
The company is working on the identification and development of novel autoimmune therapies using live microbial biotherapeutics and engineered proteins.
The Servatus business currently has three divisions - drug development, manufacturing via a joint-venture and over-the-counter live microbial biotherapeutics (Biomiq).
The company said the majority of funds raised will be directed toward clinical trials for insomnia, rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease.
"Servatus is currently awaiting final ethics approval for rheumatoid arthritis and IBD-UC before undertaking patient recruitment for these trials, which are expected to begin in Queensland and the United States in early 2022," it said.
CEO Dr Wayne Finlayson said, “We are delighted to have secured $7.5 million in new capital to advance these important clinical trial programs. While there are drugs on market for insomnia and rheumatoid arthritis, a meaningful percentage of patients remain very much underserved by, or unable to tolerate, existing therapies. We had exceptional responses to our earlier work and are looking forward to moving into the clinic early next year.”
Servatus has built a research and production facility under a joint venture named Australian Biotherapeutics (ABT).
The facility employs a global-first bio-manufacturing process that pairs proprietary, closed-system single-use continuous production with drying technology to improve both manufacturing yields and production costs.
Stage one construction of the facility has already been completed.
Dr Finlayson added, “It has been very satisfying to see the benefits of our integrated business platform this year. Our rapidly advancing clinical trial program has been supported by our state-of-the-art R&D and production facility. While other drug developers may have been impacted by short-supply in manufacturing, having a purpose-built facility has enabled us to fast-track our clinical trial program. We are very proud to be able to take our Australian technology to the world and are entering into an exciting phase for the company.”