The company is developing commercial-scale regenerative cell therapy for a range of illnesses, with Parkinson’s disease a priority area of research.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing €30m of financing to French biotech firm TreeFrog Therapeutics to further its work developing cell therapy to treat Parkinson’s disease and other illnesses.
The €30m financing is being delivered in 3 tranches of €10m each, using a new EIB vehicle that incorporates dilutive financing. This means no principal repayment will be required for the initial two tranches with venture debt to finance the final tranche. The deal benefits from a guarantee under the European Commission’s Invest EU programme. The initial €10m is due to be taken up before the end of June 2025.
Bordeaux-based TreeFrog specialises in regenerative medicine biotech which seeks to provide cost-effective cell therapies at commercial scale that could benefit millions of patients suffering from one of several diseases.
Areas of focus
The financing will mainly support development of TreeFrog’s lead cell therapy programme for Parkinson’s disease. It will also help finance research into tackling other illnesses with unmet needs, such as liver, heart, lung, pancreas and brain diseases.
Parkinson’s disease is a priority area of research, as it is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder and the fastest growing. More than 10 million people globally suffer from the disease, the prevalence of which has doubled in the last 25 years and is expected to double again before 2050, according to the EIB. It is also a disease for which existing solutions only treat symptoms, rather seeking to slow or halt the disease itself.
“Regenerative medicine is a field that has growing importance as life expectancy rises and some diseases are still untreated. The EIB is keen to support young, dynamic European and French companies that focus on research, development and product innovation,” said Ambroise Fayolle, EIB vice president.
Jaime Arango, TreeFrog’s chief finance officer, said the EIB support would enable the firm to “bring our Parkinson’s cell therapy to the clinic, while also reinforcing our internal pipeline of cell therapies in other disease areas”.
The firm was founded in 2018 by biophysicist Kévin Alessandri and stem cell biologist Maxime Feyeux, having been incubated by the University of Bordeaux. Since 2021, it has raised $82m (€72.6m) to advance its pipeline of stem cell-based therapies based on its C-Stem proprietary technology platform.
On track for human trials
C-Stem combines microfluidics and stem cell biology to mimic the natural environment for cells. The cells are placed in capsules that protect them and allow them to self-organise and grow as they would do naturally. These protected cells are then nourished, so they expand exponentially. They can be turned into any type of cell in large-scale bioreactors without damage and stress, according to TreeFrog.
The company’s business model includes developing its own therapeutic programmes as well as working in partnerships with other biotech and industry organisations. Investors include French government investment bank Bpifrance, US-based private equity firm LGP, global pharmaceuticals firm Bristol Myers Squibb and Paris-based venture capital firm XAnge.
TreeFrog said the programme is on track to carry out its first in-human trial in 2027.
In April, the EIB announced another biotech investment, lining up a €57.5m venture debt deal with Danish firm IO Biotech that supports the company in further developing and marketing an immunotherapeutic cancer vaccine to treat melanoma. If successful, the vaccine could be used to tackle other types of cancer. This investment also received support from the InvestEU initiative.
