02 Jun WI-based FluGen raises $3.4M for universal flu vaccine phase I trial
By Jeff Engel, Xconomy
FluGen has raised $3.4 million in convertible debt financing to help the Madison, WI-based biotech startup push its universal flu vaccine into human trials next year, Xconomy has learned.
The $3.4 million is a bridge financing round, and the company is now seeking an additional $3 million or more in a Series B venture capital round that would—along with a new $4.7 million NIH grant—help fund Phase Ia and Ib clinical trials for FluGen’s Redee Flu, president and CEO Paul Radspinner said today. The goal would be to close the Series B round by August and enter clinical trials early next year.
FluGen, founded in 2007, previously raised about $12 million from local and out-of-state investors, including Madison-based Venture Management and Knox LLC, a private East Coast fund, Radspinner said. A few years ago, the company was developing a vaccine delivery device, but has since scrapped those plans to focus on Redee Flu, which is intended to protect against multiple types of influenza, including seasonal flu and outbreaks of pandemics such as avian flu. The company also has a pre-clinical vaccine candidate to fight respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, Radspinner said. Read more …