Alentis Therapeutics Raises USD 67 Million in Series B Financing
Alentis Therapeutics, the Swiss biotech developing breakthrough treatments for fibrotic diseases, today announced that it has raised USD67 (CHF60) million in a Series B financing round. The funding will be used primarily for proof-of-concept clinical trials of Alentis’ first in class, Claudin-1 targeting, anti-fibrotic molecules in advanced liver and kidney fibrosis, and support ongoing drug discovery programs targeting other fibrotic diseases and hepatobiliary cancers.
Morningside Venture Investments led the financing, joined by Jeito Capital and Series A investors BioMed Partners, BB Pureos Bioventures, Bpifrance through its InnoBio 2 fund, High-Tech Gründerfonds and Schroders Capital.
"Our investors recognize the high unmet medical need,” said Dr. Roberto Iacone, CEO of Alentis, “They feel a great sense of urgency to develop innovative treatments for patients with life-threatening fibrotic diseases as well as related deadly cancers such as hepatocellular carcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma.” Dr. Iacone added, “This will fuel our strategy of expanding the indications for Claudin-1 targeting agents and further build our pipeline of proprietary product candidates.
Prof. Thomas Baumert, founder of Alentis, said that in the US and Europe alone, about 45% of deaths can be attributed to fibrotic disorders. He said that fibrosis affects nearly all tissues and organ systems such as the liver, kidneys and lungs.
“Fibrosis is an important risk factor for cancer, and Claudin-1 has a well-established role in cancer biology including tumor invasion and metastasis,” Prof. Baumert said. “Given the absent and unsatisfactory treatment options, it’s critical that we deliver new therapeutics for patients suffering from fibrosis and cancer.”
In addition, Alentis welcomed Jason Dinges of Morningside and Rafaèle Tordjman, founder and CEO of Jeito Capital, to its Board of Directors, effective immediately.
“We are excited about Alentis’ first-in-class approach to potentially enable effective treatments for fibrotic diseases with significant unmet medical need,” said Dr. Dinges. “We look forward to supporting this exceptional team as they pioneer modulation of Claudin-1, an important and highly promising target in fibrosis and oncology.”
“Our investment in Alentis is very much in line with Jeito’s goal to accelerate the growth of companies developing treatments for severely ill patients with no other options. We provide input into the science right through to the product’s market access,” said Dr. Tordjman. “Alentis has an outstanding and experienced team from pharma and biotech and is focused on a unique target, based on the founder’s work and his team of more than 10 years.”
Alentis' unique therapeutic approach focuses on the inhibition of Claudin-1 outside the tight junction and its downstream signalling acting on cell fate and plasticity. Alentis’ lead molecules ALE.F02 and ALE.C04 are highly selective anti-Claudin-1 mAb that recognize pathological overexpressed and conformation-dependent Claudin-1 epitopes in fibrotic disease and cancer. In preclinical studies, the lead molecule ALE.F02 modulates the function of non-junctional Claudin-1, preventing, and possibly reversing, the growth of fibrotic tissue within the liver and kidney by changing the plasticity of key cell types mediating fibrosis. Safety studies in non-human primates have supported translatability of the approach into patients. Alentis expects to initiate its first clinical trial in Q4 2021.
About Alentis Therapeutics
Alentis Therapeutics is a Swiss-based biotech that focuses on developing breakthrough treatments for fibrotic diseases. The company was founded in 2019 based on ground-breaking research in the laboratory of Prof. Thomas Baumert MD at the University of Strasbourg and the French National Institute of Health (Inserm).
The Company’s lead candidates are monoclonal antibodies that are highly selective for Claudin-1, a novel, previously unexploited target with a unique mechanism of action that plays a key role in the pathology of liver fibrosis and fibrosis-driven hepatobiliary cancers. It also has early discovery programs exploring the potential of Claudin-1 inhibition in the treatment of fibrosis of other tissues including the kidney and lung. These represent very large and expanding markets with high unmet need. Furthermore, the company uses a patient-derived drug and target discovery platform to develop medicines for advanced fibrosis.
Unlike current therapies in fibrosis, which mostly address the disease indirectly, Alentis’ pioneering approach has the potential to directly modify and reverse the course of disease progression.
Alentis is headquartered in Basel’s pharma-biotech hub in Switzerland with a subsidiary for R&D in Strasbourg, France.
For more information, visit https://alentis.ch/
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210614005688/en/
Contact information
Nathalie Graf-Tschupp
Office Manager
nathalie.graf@alentis.ch
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
INNIO to Supply Technology for a Landmark Project in Texas, Reinforcing Grid Stability12.12.2025 10:59:00 EET | Press release
INNIO Group, a leading energy solution and service provider, is collaborating with the U.S. power utility Greenville Electric Utility System (GEUS) on a landmark 104-megawatt (MW) power plant. The new plant is designed to help reinforce grid stability, cover peak loads, and enable greater integration of renewable energy. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251211712708/en/ Jenbacher J920 FleXtra “This project is a milestone for Texas and for INNIO. With fast-start capability, flexibility, and sustainability, we are creating the energy infrastructure that modern grids need: reliable, growth-promoting, and supporting the expansion of renewables,” said Dr. Olaf Berlien, President and CEO of INNIO Group. Groundbreaking for the plant’s construction took place in early December, with commissioning scheduled for summer 2027. The groundbreaking marks the beginning of the largest installation to date of Jenbacher J920 FleX
Kioxia Develops Core Technology that Will Allow the Practical Implementation of High-density, Low-power 3D DRAM12.12.2025 07:24:00 EET | Press release
Kioxia Corporation, a world leader in memory solutions, today announced the development of highly stackable oxide-semiconductor channel transistors that will enable the practical implementation of high-density, low-power 3D DRAM. This technology was presented at the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) held in San Francisco, USA, on December 10, and has the potential to reduce power consumption across a wide range of applications, including AI servers and IoT components. In the era of AI, there is growing demand for DRAM with larger capacity and lower power consumption that can process large amounts of data. Traditional DRAM technology is reaching the physical limits of memory cell size scaling, prompting research into the 3D stacking of memory cells to provide additional capacity. The use of single-crystal silicon as the channel material for transistors in stacked memory cells, as is the case with conventional DRAM, drives up manufacturing costs, and the power required t
BEYOND Developments Reveals a New Vision for Purposeful Living on Dubai Islands with SIORA11.12.2025 19:02:00 EET | Press release
BEYOND Developments, the bold and design-led real estate developer shaping next-generation waterfront destinations in the UAE, today unveiled SIORA, its first beachfront masterplan on Dubai Islands and the company’s second large-scale community within a year. The launch underscores BEYOND’s accelerated growth and strong alignment with Dubai’s future urban vision. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251211014389/en/ BEYOND Developments - SIORA Masterplan at sunset - Dubai Islands (Photo: AETOSWire) Spanning over 2M square feet, SIORA is conceived as a coastal sanctuary inspired by Japanese garden philosophies, including the pursuit of Ikigai, the Japanese concept of finding purpose and fulfilment in everyday life. In this context, it reflects a philosophy of creating spaces that bring clarity, balance, and a sense of meaning, where architecture nurtures wellbeing and restores harmony between people, nature, and pla
3Degrees Welcomes David Dines to Board of Directors11.12.2025 18:00:00 EET | Press release
3Degrees, a global leader in renewable energy and climate solutions, is pleased to announce the appointment of David Dines to its Board of Directors, effective December 8, 2025. Dines brings more than four decades of leadership experience across global energy, commodities, financial services, transportation, and industrial markets. He served on the executive team as Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Senior Vice President at Cargill, Inc., the largest privately held company in the United States, where he oversaw enterprise-wide financial strategy, capital deployment, and financial performance. During his 29-year career at Cargill, Dines led multiple global businesses, played key roles in major technology and process transformations, and was a member of Cargill’s Commodity Risk, Financial Risk, and Process, Data, and Technology Committees. “We are thrilled to welcome David to the 3Degrees board,” said Philippe Vedrenne, CEO, 3Degrees. “He has an exceptional command of financial stewa
ITC Infotech wins PTC Partner Network Award for FY25 in the PLM Category11.12.2025 16:40:00 EET | Press release
ITC Infotech, a leading global technology services and solutions provider, has been awarded the PTC Partner Network Award for FY25 in the Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) category. This prestigious recognition, awarded to a single partner globally, celebrates excellence in deploying Enterprise PLM software, enabling global and cross-functional teams to effectively manage product data and providing a trusted system for product information. The award underscores ITC Infotech’s leadership in PLM-led digital transformation, as well as its strategic alignment with PTC’s Intelligent Product Lifecycle vision, which helps customers build a structured product data foundation that serves as the backbone for AI-driven transformation. Through its specialized DxP Services, ITC Infotech has helped enterprises transform and modernize their product development lifecycle processes, seamlessly transition to SaaS ecosystem and build digitally connected, intelligent and future-ready solutions to acceler
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom