Matisse Pharmaceuticals closes EUR 3.6 million financing round

Matisse Pharmaceuticals B.V., a clinical stage company developing a medicinal product for the treatment of sepsis, is pleased to announce that has finalized a self-led financing round of EUR 3.6m with existing and new shareholders. Matisse received the funding from Brightlands Venture Partners, private investment companies, informal investors and the management team.

The fresh new funding will allow Matisse to effectively continue its preparation for a large scale phase II study in sepsis patients. In the course of 2024, Matisse aims to conclude a series A funding round which should cover the full execution of the mentioned phase II clinical trial, the scale up of production to a commercial scale level and to progress on a number of R&D projects, thereby also further strengthening the organization. Matisse will shortly be able to announce the results of the phase 1/2a Histoseps trial in sepsis patients, which is a major milestone for the company.

“We are thankful for the confidence of our existing and new investors in our company and developments. Being able to close this round just before a major milestone publication and in a difficult 2023 biotech funding environment, underpins the support for and importance of finding a solution for treating sepsis”, according to Marcel Jacobs, CEO of Matisse Pharmaceuticals.

About M6229

Matisse claims to have identified an elegant solution for treating sepsis by using a non-anticoagulant fraction of heparin called M6229 to neutralize toxic circulatory histones. Matisse’s platform technology is based on the discovery that in many patients suffering from sepsis, proteins called histones are released by the innate immune system and apoptotic and necrotic cells into the blood stream, where they are toxic to other cells. Due to this self-enforcing cascade, people may die from organ failure within one or two days. Preclinical results have shown that by neutralizing the toxic histones with Matisse’s product M6229, the negative cascade is inhibited by neutralization of cationic histones by anionic M6229. Currently, there is no effective treatment against sepsis. According to the WHO, sepsis is the leading cause of death. From the 49 million patients globally suffering from sepsis every year, more than 20% die. According to a recent Journal of Critical Care Medicine study, sepsis is the most common cause of in-hospital deaths, costing over $62 billion annually in the USA alone.

About Matisse Pharmaceuticals

Matisse Pharmaceuticals BV was founded in 2014 in Geleen, the Netherlands. Matisse targets life-threatening inflammation by neutralizing cytotoxic components of the inflammatory system. Its main development program is the development of a medicine to fight sepsis and septic shock.