About us
eTheRNA immunotherapies' mission is to help patients to overcome certain cancers and infectious diseases by developing novel immunotherapies that target the fundamental role of dendritic cells in the human immune system. eTheRNA’s proprietary mRNA-based TriMix technology boosts dendritic cells leading to a more comprehensive, sustainable and safer enhancement of the patient’s immune system than any other similar approach investigated until now.
Our story
eTheRNA was established in January 2013 as a spin-off company of the ‘Vrije Universiteit Brussel’ (VUB), following the development of the TriMix technology by the VUB Laboratory for Molecular and Cellular Therapy, headed by Prof. Kris Thielemans (and co-founders Carlo Heirman and Sonja van Meirvenne) in tandem with Prof Bart Neyns from the Brussels University Hospital 'UZ Brussel'.
In 2015, eTheRNA entered into a partnership with Progress Pharma under the leadership of Dirk Reyn, former CEO of Movetis. In July of that year, eTheRNA obtained from the VUB a worldwide exclusive license on the TriMix technology.
In March 2016, eTheRNA immunotherapies secured EUR 24 million in a Series A investment with a strong international syndicate of investors.
This enables the company to continue the development of mRNA-based immunotherapies for melanoma, triple negative breast cancer and infectious diseases.
Our strategy
eTheRNA aims to bring its innovative TriMix technology to patients through a triple strategy.
- eTheRNA will focus predominately the Series A resources to provide preclinical and clinical proof of evidence to support the further development of the TriMix technology into an injectable in vivo product, that can be made available "off-the-shelf" which makes it a commercially attractive and convenient option for various patient populations.
- In parallel, eTheRNA will use grants/non-dilutive funds to optimize the production process and intends to select partners to further develop the TriMix ex-vivo cellular therapy as more personalized therapy.
- eTheRNA will simultaneously expand its GMP-compliant mRNA production capacity which will allow the company to perform selected contract manufacturing work in addition to the supply of mRNA constructs for its proper development activities.
eTheRNA's current development plan is based around following strategic choices:
- Implement specific preclinical programs that address further understanding on the mode of action of TriMix and the effect of combining the drug with a variety of different drugs used for the treatment of cancer.
- Focus clinical development of the available in-vivo intranodal or intratumor product on 2 indications with a high unmet need and attractive commercial potential being advanced melanoma and triple negative breast cancer.