Refoxy Pharmaceuticals GmbH is a biotech startup developing innovative approaches to modulate FOXO3 transcription factors, crucial for cellular homeostasis. Founded in 2020 by Wolfgang Link at the Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas Sols-Morreale (IIBM), CSIC-UAM, and Victor Bustos, Refoxy builds upon two decades of research by the co-founder Wolfgang Link, focused on understanding FOXO3 proteins and establishing them as therapeutic targets (1).
The company has secured €9.1 million in funding, led by the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF) with participation from other investors, including Apollo Health Ventures, NRW.Venture Bank, and High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF).
FOXO3 holds significant therapeutic potential in age-related diseases such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Refoxy has developed a discovery platform to identify FOXO3 activators, including several chemical series, termed ‘RP,’ which activate FOXO3 and deliver therapeutic benefits. Multiple studies demonstrate a link between FOXO3 inactivation and IPF pathogenesis. Refoxy leveraged human genetic resources to establish a causal genetic link between FOXO3 variants and IPF. Moreover, research has shown that pharmacological or genetic activation of FOXO3 can be therapeutic in standard mouse models of IPF.
Refoxy's compound, FXY1555, has shown dose-dependent effects in precision-cut lung slices, reduced fibrosis in the bleomycin-induced mouse model of IPF, and inhibited fibroblast-to-myofibroblast transdifferentiation.
Refoxy’s achievements during its first two years, supported by €2.6 million in seed funding, built investor confidence. Boehringer Ingelheim, a global leader in IPF therapies, is spearheading an additional €9.1 million investment to accelerate the development of FOXO3-based therapies for IPF.
(1) Calissi et al., Nature Rev Drug Discov., 2021, 20:21-38