Strasbourg's Dianosic has received €4.7 million to launch a phase 1 clinical trial of its novel allergic rhinitis treatment once its immediate in vivo study has completed.
It's hoped Dianosic's nasal implant candidate would alleviate chronic allergic rhinitis, an immune system response which causes nasal leakage and other cold-like symptoms, triggered by allergens such as pollen.
With Dianosic's novel ARIS-R treatment device, clinicians would insert a resorbable polymer into the patient's nose. Low doses of corticosteroids, administered via the polymer insert, would help to alleviate nasal inflammation.
The device is designed to be long lasting with early studies suggesting it remains active for at least six months, or in optimal conditions up to 12 months. A second branch of Dianosic's R&D programme is working on a variant to treat chronic sinusitis, which is also characterised by nasal, cold-like symptoms.
Dianosic says existing treatments for rhinitis are highly invasive, for instance involving surgery to access nasal mucosal tissues.
According to rhinitis specialists from US health provider Mount Sinai Health System, surgery can make symptoms less severe but cannot eliminate the immune system response.
Dianosic was founded in 2017 by Marc Augustin, Philippe Bastide and Prof. Christian Debry; the latter leads ENT medical research at University of Strasbourg. Both Bastide and Augustin stayed on to help manage the company, serving as president and CEO respectively.
The forthcoming phase 1 study will be the first time Dianosic's device has been trialled on humans. But it isn't the company's first commercial product.
Dianosic's debut treatment, a nasally-administered remedy to stop excessive bleeding, was first launched in 2021.
Following the fundraise, Dianosic also proposes to make new hires to strengthen its technology R&D capacity. Presumably this should enable its rhinitis product roadmap without endangering growth resources for its existing haemorrhage treatment.
The €4.7 million round was backed by crowdfunding platform Wiseed, nonprofit health and innovation board Fondation Force, and non-dilutive funds from state investor Bpifrance's deep tech division.
Dianosic's early stage supporters also include SATT Conectus, the regional tech transfer office for Strasbourg academic innovation, in addition to Bpifrance Alsace, Biovalley France, Eurometropolis of Strasbourg, the Caisse d’Epargne Grand Est Europe and the Banque Populaire Rives de Paris.
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