Promethera Biosciences Completes €39.7 Million ($44.4 Million) Series D Financing

Proceeds will support ongoing clinical evaluation of HepaStem®
in ACLF and launch of a clinical trial in late stage NASH set to
commence in H1 2019 in Europe with significant further expansion into
the US and Asia

MONT-SAINT-GUIBERT, Belgium & TOKYO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Promethera
Biosciences SA, a global innovator in cell-based medicines and liver
diseases, today announced the closing of a €39.7 million (JPY4.94
billion) Series D financing. The round was co-led by new Japanese
investors ITOCHU Corporation, who contributed €10 million to this
financing in January, and Shinsei Capital Partners. MEDIPAL HOLDINGS
CORPORATION (Japan), Mirae Asset Capital (Korea), the family office Six
Snow (Luxembourg), Korea Investment Partners (Korea), Ci:z Investment
LLP (Japan) are joining the round as well as Belgian private investors.
Promethera’s existing investor, Mitsui & Co. Global Investment, Inc.
(MGI) also participated in the financing. Proceeds from the financing
will accelerate the company’s ongoing HepaStem clinical program in ACLF
and the launch of the company’s first clinical trial in NASH. In
addition, the funding will be used for its manufacturing scale-up,
preclinical programs and overall operations of the company and the group.

“The financial support of our new and existing investors, with their
expertise in cell therapies and wide Asian and global networks, will
greatly help us as we efficiently advance the world’s first cell-based
treatment for ACLF and NASH through clinical trials,” said John
Tchelingerian, PhD, President and CEO of Promethera. “Our clinical trial
in late stage NASH will soon be initiated first in Europe and is
expected to expand to the US and Asia. We are excited to see how our
HepaStem drug candidate can make a difference in the lives of patients
with severe liver diseases. Overall, we are looking at a
transformational period for our company and the financing puts us in a
great position to execute our plans.”

“Promethera has taken great steps to increase and bolster our relations
and operations in Asia, and specifically in Japan and Korea, so we can
benefit from the openness to stem-cell therapeutics in this area of the
world,” said Mutsuki Takano, Group CFO and General Manager of
Promethera’s Japan branch. “This territorial move has already started
showing results, with our shareholder base growing significantly in Asia
not least through this financing round.”

HepaStem consists of liver stem cells that are obtained from ethically
donated healthy human livers and expanded under cGMP conditions in
production. The product candidate is currently being evaluated in a
phase 2a clinical trial in the indication ACLF with first safety and
efficacy results being presented recently at The International Liver
Congress 2019 (EASL) as part of a late-breaking oral presentation. In
addition to its cell-based approaches, HepaStem and H2Stem, Promethera
is advancing a portfolio of complementary biologics approaches including
the anti-TNF-R1 antibody Atrosimab.

About Promethera Biosciences

Promethera Biosciences is a global innovator in liver therapeutics whose
mission is to bring patients life-saving treatments to reduce the need
for liver transplantation. Our lead clinical program, derived from our
patented cell technology platform HepaStem, is designed to benefit from
its immune-modulatory and anti-fibrotic properties. In addition to our
cell-based pipeline (HepaStem and H2Stem), we develop antibody
technologies such as the anti-TNF-R1 antibody Atrosimab, to complement
and diversify our therapeutic options. We are a team of international
experts operating out of facilities in Mont-Saint-Guibert (Belgium),
Durham (NC, USA), Tokyo (Japan) and Basel (Switzerland).

Promethera®, HepaStem®, H2stem® are all registered trademarks of the
PROMETHERA group.

Contacts

Promethera Biosciences SA
Alexandra Schiettekatte
[email protected]
Web:
www.promethera.com

For
media:
MacDougall
Mario Brkulj or Shai Biran, Ph.D.
+49
89 2420 9345
or +1 781-235-3060
[email protected]