Vetigenics, a clinical-stage animal health biotechnology company specializing in antibody therapeutics for pets, announced notable progress over the past year, including closing a $6 million seed round and advancing multiple clinical-stage programs.
The funding sets the stage for accelerated growth and value creation for Vetigenics. And the funds will be used to advance clinical-stage programs toward pivotal trials, accelerate exciting preclinical candidates, and scale up operations and manufacturing.
Along with this financing success, two major trials using Vetigenics’ antibodies to treat canine cancer have reached key milestones:
1.) VGS-001 (anti-cCTLA4) – The antibody therapy was combined with palliative radiation to treat oral melanoma in dogs. The trial is complete, and encouraging results are expected to be published in 2025.
2.) VGS-002 (anti-cPD1) – The study using VGS-002 as monotherapy in dogs with urothelial carcinoma is nearing completion, and promising results are anticipated later this year.
Vetigenics is also advancing its promising preclinical programs for treating autoimmune disease, obesity and allergy in pets. And these therapeutic innovations are expected to address significant unmet needs in companion animal care. In particular, VGS-003 (anti-cCD19 mAb) has been evaluated in vivo and is on track to enter clinical trials by the end of 2025.
The company also established a board of directors made up of prominent industry leaders to guide its continued growth:
1.) Chand Khanna, DVM, PhD, a leader in comparative oncology and translational medicine
2.) Stephen Lesser, JD, MBA, a seasoned strategic advisor in biotechnology and life sciences
3.) Caleb Frankel, VMD, an EMR pioneer and tech innovator in the veterinary space
4.) Adriann Sax, MBA, President, CEO and co- founder of Vetigenics
With a pipeline of clinical trials, new strategic partnerships, and an expanded team of experts, Vetigenics is prepared to continue transforming pet health in 2025. And the company remains committed to helping pets live their best lives through cutting-edge science and collaborative efforts with partners and supporters.
KEY QUOTES:
“The funding underscores the confidence our investor partners have in our ability to achieve significant progress in a capital-efficient manner. They share our belief in the potential of biologics to treat a variety of diseases in pets and the unique capabilities of Vetigenics to stay ahead in this evolving field.”
- Adriann Sax, President, CEO and co-founder of Vetigenics
“It is very exciting to see Vetigenics’ checkpoint inhibitors safely addressing significant unmet needs in common veterinary cancers.”
- Nicola Mason, BVetMed, PhD, DACVIM, FRCVS, Vetigenics co-founder and clinical investigator
“The unique construction of the CANIBODY library offers Vetigenics the ability to isolate antibodies to the most challenging targets.”
“To date, our technology has enabled novel antibody generation across therapeutic areas and species in a variety of formats.”
- Don Siegel, PhD, MD, Vetigenics co-founder and researcher
