Tolera Therapeutics raises $5.5 million in financing

The last time Second Wave checked in with Tolera Therapeutics its CEO was spending a lot of time on the road seeking funding. That search has paid off. 

The Kalamazoo-based biotechnology company is focusing on getting to market a drug that safely suppresses the immune system. Now it has raised $5.5 million to proceed with further tests to prove the drug is safe for humans.

The drug is designed for patients who have received organ transplants. The company’s work down the road could also have implications for therapies for autoimmune conditions, diabetes and some cancers.

Tolera plans to ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for an assessment that leads to a clinical trial that compares Tolera’s drug with the leading drug on the market now used to prevent acute organ rejection.

Hopen Life Science Ventures of Grand Rapids led the $5.5 million financing round. Current investors including Triathlon Medical Venture Partners and Southwest Michigan First Life Science Fund also joined in the latest round of financing.

CEO John Puisis says the funding will allow the company to finish its Phase 2 testing and prepare for Phase 3 investigation of its lead clinical candidate, TOL101.

“We are excited to bring this novel T-cell targeting biologic drug to market where there is a significant need for new immune modulating strategies and few, if any, industry pipeline alternatives,” Puisis says.

T-cells assist other white blood cells in immune system processes.

Writer: Kathy Jennings, Second Wave Media
Source: John Puisis, Tolera Therapeutics