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has received a cash infusion of $27 million to advance its COVID-19 treatment to clinical trials.

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The round was led by , with the participation of , , the Belgian Federal Government via , and several Belgian family offices. As part of the investment, , CEO of ExeVir Bio, , partner at Fund+, , head of UCB Ventures, , managing director at VIB and , partner at V-Bio, will join ExeVir Bio鈥檚 board.

Mummenbrauer said in a written statement that the new financing will enable the company to聽 鈥渞apidly advance the development of our lead compound into clinical studies by the end of the year. We are confident our llama-derived antibodies hold a key to saving the lives of patients who can become seriously ill with coronavirus.”

Founded by VIB, UCB Ventures and Fund+, Belgium-based ExeVir Bio is harnessing a llama-derived antibody technology platform to generate robust antiviral therapies providing broad protection against coronaviruses.

Llama-derived single-domain antibodies were shown to neutralize SARS-CoV-2 in preclinical studies and SARS-CoV-1 in in vitro assays, the company said. Due to llama antibodies being smaller than human antibodies, they can attach to parts of the coronavirus that would otherwise be inaccessible, according to ExeVir Bio.

It鈥檚 lead candidate, VHH72-Fc, binds to a unique epitope–the part of a molecule to which an antibody attaches itself–in SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 viruses, preventing them from entering the cell, according to the company. If the candidate is viable, it could be used for both a therapeutic and prophylactic, the company said.

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