Evox Therapeutics’ exosomes
With the backing of major pharmaceutical companies Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) and Takeda (TYO:4502), Evox Therapeutics is breaking into the drug delivery space in impressive fashion.
Oxford, England-based Evox works to harness and engineer the delivery capabilities of extracellular vesicles, known as exosomes, to develop new therapeutics. The proprietary DeliverEX technology modifies exosomes using molecular engineering, drug loading and targeting strategies to facilitate targeted drug delivery to organs of interest, including the brain and the central nervous system.
The company recently raised $95.4 million (£69.2 million) in a Series C financing round, in which Eli Lilly converted a $10 million convertible note, formed as part of a 2020 collaboration between the two companies, into equity to contribute to the round. CEO Dr. Antonin de Fougerolles also said the company has a strategic partnership with Takeda.
Novel exosome-based therapeutics developed by Evox could potentially improve the treatment of certain severe diseases that now have limited treatment options. DeliverEX could provide the exosome-based drugs that can address limitations of protein, antibody and nucleic acid-based therapies by enabling delivery to cells and tissues that are currently out of reach using other drug delivery technologies.
