Celaid Therapeutics Secures $7.2 Million Series B Funding to Advance Pediatric Stem Cell Therapy CLD-001
Key Insights
Celaid Therapeutics (search) raised JPY 1.055 billion ($7.2 million) in Series B funding from venture capital firms and Japan's AMED to advance its lead hematopoietic stem cell therapy program.
The company's CLD-001 (search) therapy targets severe pediatric non-malignant diseases including aplastic anemia (search), primary immunodeficiency (search), and sickle cell disease (search) using expanded cord blood stem cells.
Funding will support GMP manufacturing and non-clinical studies as the company prepares for U.S. clinical trials, with pre-IND discussions with FDA progressing according to plan.
Celaid Therapeutics (search) Inc., a Japanese biotech company developing innovative hematopoietic stem cell therapies, announced the successful completion of the first close of its Series B financing round, raising JPY 1.055 billion (USD 7.2 million) from venture capital firms and the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED). The funding brings the company's cumulative financing to JPY 2.52 billion (USD 17.14 million) including grants and subsidies.
The financing reflects growing recognition of progress in the company's lead pipeline program CLD-001 (search), a novel ex vivo-expanded hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) therapy designed for severe pediatric non-malignant diseases, as well as expanding collaborations with global pharmaceutical and biotech companies leveraging Celaid's proprietary platform technology.
CLD-001 Development Advances
CLD-001 (search) has demonstrated positive non-clinical data showing efficacy and safety in animal models, according to the company. Celaid has made significant advancements in cell manufacturing and Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC), while pre-IND preparation with the U.S. FDA is progressing according to plan.
The therapy targets rare blood diseases including aplastic anemia (search), primary immunodeficiency (search), inherited metabolic disorder (search), and sickle cell disease (search) that begin in childhood and are associated with various physical and neurological complications. These conditions have very poor prognosis, with allogeneic HSC transplantation (HSCT) currently representing the only curative therapy.
However, significant unmet needs remain for allogeneic HSCT due to donor problems such as bone marrow donor shortage and HLA type mismatch, as well as side effects including transplant-related mortality and graft-versus-host disease (search) (GvHD). CLD-001 (search) is designed to address these donor shortage and transplantation-related risks.
Addressing Critical Treatment Gaps
CLD-001 (search) solves the donor problem by using frozen cord blood stored in cord blood banks as the cell source. The therapy also addresses the bottleneck of low HSC counts in cord blood through Celaid's proprietary HSC expansion technology, enabling the company to provide HSCs with the best HLA type for each patient.
The HLA best-matched and bone marrow-engrafting HSCs are expected to significantly improve overall survival after HSC therapy, according to the company. Hematopoietic stem cells are multipotent stem cells capable of generating all blood cell lineages, including red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets, with capacity for self-renewal ensuring life-long maintenance of the hematopoietic system. However, HSCs are naturally scarce in the body or collected samples, making it challenging to secure sufficient numbers for therapeutic use.
Platform Technology Collaborations
Beyond its lead program, Celaid is advancing collaborative research with AGC Inc. (search) on the expansion and functional evaluation of iPSC-HSPCs. The company reports ongoing evaluations of its HSC expansion platform by undisclosed global pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
"We are deeply grateful for the continued support from our venture capital partners and AMED. This financing represents an important milestone that brings us closer to delivering transformative hematopoietic stem cell therapies to patients worldwide," said Nobuyuki Arakawa, President & CEO of Celaid Therapeutics (search) Inc. "As Japan's leading university-origin hematopoietic stem cell company, we will continue to advance both our HSC pipeline development programs and our platform business."
Funding Details and Investor Support
The Series B first close raised JPY 555 million (USD 3.77 million) through third-party allocation of new shares from existing investors including Osaka University Venture Capital (search) Co., Ltd., The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners (search) Co., Ltd., Techno Science Co., Ltd., and Joyo Capital Partners Co., Ltd. Additionally, AMED awarded approximately JPY 500 million (USD 3.4 million) through its "Strengthening Program for Pharmaceutical Startup Ecosystem," Stage 2.
The newly raised capital will support GMP manufacturing and non-clinical studies in preparation for initiating clinical trials of CLD-001 (search) in the United States. The company will also strengthen its proprietary HSC expansion platform and expand applications to broader cell and gene therapy programs.
Celaid Therapeutics (search) is a startup born out of the University of Tokyo and University of Tsukuba with proprietary technology for selective ex vivo HSC expansion. The company aims to provide next-generation cell and gene therapy products for cell therapies targeting hematologic and genetic diseases, ex vivo HSC gene therapies for genetic disorders, and angiogenesis for ischemic diseases.