ErVimmune, a biotechnology company developing next-generation therapeutic vaccines targeting new families of “unconventional” tumour antigens derived from human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs), today announced the closing of its Series A financing round. The company raised \u20ac17 million from a consortium of international investors. Existing shareholder Seventure Partners of Paris participated in the fundraising, along with new investor Sprim Global Investments of Singapore. This funding will enable ErVimmune to obtain additional non-dilutive financing from Bpifrance and the France 2030 programme. <\/p>\n\n
The \u20ac17 million Series A funding will drive the clinical development of ErVac01, ErVimmune’s lead candidate, a heterologous vaccine formulation containing a collection of epitopes derived from human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs), designed to cover the majority of the global population in terms of HLA alleles (e.g. more than 80% in Asia and more than 95% in Europe). By selecting antigens common to patients and tumours, the resulting vaccine can be produced as a ready-to-use product rather than as a personalised therapy. This is intended for ‘cold’ tumours such as triple-negative breast cancer or ovarian cancer, which currently respond poorly to checkpoint inhibitors. The funding will support the execution of a first-in-human clinical trial, a crucial step in establishing the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine. <\/p>\n\n
\u201cThis funding marks a milestone in bringing our cancer vaccine ready for clinical use,\u201d said St\u00e9phane Depil, MD, PhD, founder and member of the board of directors of ErVimmune, in a statement. \u201cOur approach has the potential to transform treatment options for patients with difficult-to-treat cancers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThis financial support allows us to accelerate the development of our lead vaccine candidate ErVac01,\u201d says Nathalie Donne, EMBA, CEO of ErVimmune. \u201cWe are excited to move into our first clinical trial in humans and lay the foundation for a broader therapeutic platform.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Since its founding, ErVimmune has received financial support from Bpifrance, Canc\u00e9rop\u00f4le Lyon Auvergne-Rh\u00f4ne-Alpes and the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR). At the end of 2020, life sciences investor Seventure Partners invested in initial funding, which was also supported in 2022 by grants from Bpifrance and ANR, and in November 2023 by a \u20ac2.5 million grant from the EIC Accelerator. In 2024, the company was selected to receive support from the Paris Saclay Cancer Cluster (PSCC) and in 2025 from the NETVA programme. <\/p>\n\n
\u201cWe are delighted to continue supporting ErVimmune as it enters this crucial clinical phase,\u201d said Isabelle de Cr\u00e9moux, CEO and managing partner of Seventure Partners. \u201cThe company is breaking new ground in cancer immunotherapy. The transition of ErVac01 to the clinical phase is a decisive step towards translating this innovative vaccine platform into tangible benefits for patients.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
“We are eager to support ErVimmune’s lead programme, ErVac01, as it enters its first phase of clinical trials,” adds Michael Shleifer, founding partner of Sprim Global Investments. “This funding marks a turning point in the validation of ErVimmune’s proprietary antigen discovery platform, ushering in a new era of shared, ready-to-use cancer immunotherapies. A positive outcome will enable the generation of successive waves of proprietary therapeutic candidates targeting HERV antigens that have not yet been exploited in multiple oncology indications.” <\/p>\n\n
In parallel with this financing, ErVimmune announces the appointment of Eric Halioua as Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors, strengthening the company’s governance and strategic leadership as it enters the clinical development phase.<\/p>\n\n
Eric Halioua (MS, MBA) is an experienced biotechnology entrepreneur and executive with a strong track record in company creation, capital raising and value creation. He has founded four biotechnology companies and is the former president and chief executive officer of PDC*line Pharma, a clinical-stage company developing therapeutic cancer vaccines based on plasmacytoid dendritic cells. Earlier in his career, he was chief executive officer of Promethera Biosciences and co-founder of Myosix, which was acquired by Genzyme in 2002. <\/p>\n\n
Halioua has raised over \u20ac170 million from leading venture capital firms and strategic partners in Europe, the United States, Japan and Korea, and has contributed to several successful M&A and IPO transactions in the biotechnology sector. He is also the co-inventor of the world’s first GMP-approved mobile production unit for cell therapy products, demonstrating his deep expertise in advanced biomanufacturing and translational development. <\/p>\n\n
Before becoming an entrepreneur, he worked for 12 years at Arthur D. Little’s Healthcare & Life Sciences, leading strategic, merger and acquisition, and technology projects for global pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients. He holds dual master’s degrees in pharmacology and molecular biology and an MBA from ESSEC Business School (Paris). <\/p>\n\n
\u201cErVimmune is entering a decisive phase in its development, now that it has the financial means to advance into the clinical phase,\u201d says Eric Halioua. \u201cI look forward to working closely with the team and the board of directors to support clinical execution, strategic partnerships and long-term value creation to build a leading company in the field of immuno-oncology.\u201d (photo by Iv\u00e1n D\u00edaz<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The French start-up develops vaccines against cancer and, with this funding, aims to move on to the next clinical phase<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":125,"featured_media":149159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1317],"tags":[1473,2236,1136,1145],"companies":[3156],"journalist":[1518],"class_list":["post-149161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-funding-news","tag-biotechnology","tag-europa-en","tag-startup-en-2","tag-venture-capital-en-2","companies-ervimmune-en","journalist-editorial-staff-en"],"featured_sizes_urls":{"thumbnail":{"src":"https:\/\/www.startupbusiness.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ivan-diaz-_ts3NfjvaXo-unsplash.webp","width":150,"height":100,"crop":false,"srcset":false,"alt":"vaccini tumore"},"large":{"src":"https:\/\/www.startupbusiness.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ivan-diaz-_ts3NfjvaXo-unsplash.webp","width":1024,"height":682,"crop":false,"srcset":false,"alt":"vaccini tumore"},"2048x2048":{"src":"https:\/\/www.startupbusiness.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ivan-diaz-_ts3NfjvaXo-unsplash.webp","width":1280,"height":853,"crop":false,"srcset":false,"alt":"vaccini tumore"}},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n