Priothera Awarded €1.7M in Innovation Contest for Hematologic Malignancy Treatments

Priothera, a late-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Ireland but also operating in France, has been awarded nearly €1.7 million (approximately US$1.99 million) in non-dilutive funding through i-Nov, an innovation competition and flagship French government program that is part of the France 2030 initiative, operated by Bpifrance (1).

An addition to CAR-T cell therapy

The funding will support a clinical program revolving around Priothera’s mocravimod, a novel oral sphingosine 1 phosphate (S1P) receptor modulator the company is developing for treatment of hematologic malignancies (1). More specifically, the program will evaluate whether adding mocravimod to commercial chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapies can improve patient outcomes.

In a press release, Priothera noted the potential of CAR-T cell therapies to have strong clinical responses and lasting disease control in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and multiple myeloma (1). However, the company went on to say that as many as 60% of patients treated with CAR-T cells experience “high-grade toxicities,” such as cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS). Mocravimod is designed to enhance the effectiveness of CAR-T cell therapy, according to Priothera, with a dual mechanism of action that reduces incidence and severity of CRS and ICANS, as well as improves response rates and durability of treatment.

Priothera is continuing to advance mocravimod in a global Phase III trial (MO-TRANS) that studies the treatment’s efficacy in patients with acute myeloid leukemia who are undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) (1).

Importance of further funding, research

“We are honored to receive this i-Nov funding from Bpifrance, which underscores the innovation and therapeutic potential of mocravimod beyond allo-HCT,” said Florent Gros, co-founder and CEO of Priothera, in the press release (1). “With its unique immunomodulatory properties, mocravimod is well-positioned to become a key component in the next generation of cell therapy regimens. The MOCART trial represents an exciting expansion of our clinical development into CAR-T therapy, building on our deep expertise in allo-HCT and momentum from our ongoing global Phase III MO-TRANS trial in acute myeloid leukemia.”

On behalf of the French government, Bpifrance manages the French Tech Seed Fund, which was identified as one of the co-leaders of a financing round, also as part of the France 2030 initiative, for a new Franco-Belgian biotech venture, Elkedonia (2). The company said in June 2025 that it raised €11.25 million (US$12.9 million) in an oversubscribed seed round to advance a novel therapeutic approach targeting treatment-resistant depression.

Meanwhile in Spain, in-house academic CAR-T manufacturing has emerged as a new alternative model, enabled by regulatory flexibility that allows production in Grade C cleanrooms rather than more costly Grade B facilities (3). Pharmaceutical Technology®’s “Behind the Headlines” series explored that and other up-to-the-minute trends in its June 19, 2025 installment.

Click here to watch that panel discussion in its entirety.

References

1. Priothera. Priothera Secures €1.7 Million i-Nov Funding by Bpifrance for Rare Blood Cancer Clinical Program. Press Release. June 24, 2025.
2. Elkedonia. Elkedonia Closes EUR 11 Million Seed Round to Advance Neuroplastogens as Novel Therapeutics for Depression and Neuropsychiatric Disorders. Press Release. June 11, 2025.
3. Spivey, C. Behind the Headlines, Episode 19: CGT Cost Pressures, BioNTech’s CureVac Move, and Spain’s CAR-T Model. PharmTech.com, June 19, 2025.