On May 23, 2022, Exavir Therapeutics, a company with offices in both Omaha, Nebraska and New York, New York, announced a $4 million seed round. The round was led by Alley Corp and Gilead Sciences.
In its press release, the company thanked its investors. “We are thrilled to have the support of AlleyCorp and Gilead Sciences, a pioneer and leader in antiviral drug development” said Alborz Yazdi, co-founder and President of Exavir. “With this financing, we are one step closer to our goal of bringing Exavir’s broad portfolio of long-acting antivirals to communities around the world affected by some of the most challenging viruses.”
“We could not be more excited to support Alborz and the Exavir team,” said Brenton Fargnoli, M.D., Managing Partner of the AlleyCorp Healthcare Fund. “HIV remains an important area of unmet need, and we are confident that long-acting treatment and prophylaxis options will be the future of HIV care and prevention.”
Exavir Therapeutics Completes $4M Seed Financing from Key (globenewswire.com)
Within a couple of days of announcing its seed round, the company also announced its preclinical data regarding its new proposed treatment for HIV.
“Dolutegravir is an important medicine for HIV-positive patients, with over 17 million people worldwide on daily oral therapy today,” said Howard Gendelman, scientific co-founder of Exavir Therapeutics. “We are looking forward to leveraging the existing safety and efficacy database for this compound and swiftly bringing forward our proprietary ultra-long-acting prodrug formulation.
“Exavir has generated robust preclinical data across several programs that are highly de-risking for the development of ultra-long-acting antiretroviral therapy,” said Dr. John C. Pottage Jr., Scientific Advisor to Exavir Therapeutics. “I am pleased to be a part of the team and to help lead these medicines into the clinic. Long-acting is clearly the way of the future in HIV treatment and prophylaxis”.
