Over 5 million euros for Lindis Blood Care: development of a new product for the removal of tumor cells from surgical blood
Hennigsdorf (Berlin), Germany: December 11, 2019.
- Clinical development of the product CATUVAB secured
- CATUVAB is designed to enable tumor cell free return of autologous blood collected during a surgery without significantly altering standard surgical procedures
- High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), Brandenburg Kapital and five private investors participated in a capital increase
- Including the ILB grants from the “ProFIT” program of the European Regional Development Fund (3.3 million euros), the Company receives a total of more than 5 million euros
As is standard during tumor surgeries, when large volumes of blood are lost, donor blood is given to the patient. Worldwide, this is the case for more than half a million tumor surgeries annually. This procedure can result in many serious side effects and increased tumor recurrence rates. However, such side effects could be avoided in the future by CATUVAB and the potential use of the patients’ own blood.
In tumor surgery, the collection and return of a patient’s blood during surgery (autologous blood transfusion) which is done with the use of an autotransfusion system (ATS) is not part of the standard of care, as during a tumor surgery often cancerous cells are released. These cancerous cells must not be returned to the patient. This is where CATUVAB comes in. It consists of the combination of a bispecific antibody and a filter, thus enabling the reliable removal of tumor cells from the blood in the context of the standard ATS method. The product and procedure can be integrated into everyday clinical practice and potentially become an integral part of a contemporary “patient blood management” process.
“By completing this financing round, we are now in a position to rapidly develop our promising product, which will bring significant added value to cancer patients,” said Horst Lindhofer, co-inventor and one of the founders of Lindis Blood Care (LBC). His founding partner Franzpeter Bracht continued: “With the fresh capital, we can now continue through the last phase of development to regulatory approval and then look for commercial partners outside Europe.”
“Innovative procedures are needed in the field of oncology. We are convinced that LBC’s outstanding medical device delivers significant added value to tumor surgery,” said Tobias Faupel, Senior Investment Manager of High-Tech Gründerfonds. “We are impressed by the experienced development team of LBC in combination with their highly innovative research. Therefore, we are pleased to accompany this development with the early-phase and growth fund of Brandenburg Kapital to ensure that the establishment of the Company in Hennigsdorf succeeds,” commented Dr. Angelika Vlachou, Senior Investment Manager of Brandenburg Kapital.