Circassia is a specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on developing immunotherapies to control common allergies.

Technology

Circassia is developing a range of allergy treatments based on its proprietary ToleroMune® technology, which uses small sections of allergens (epitopes) to generate regulatory T-cells that suppress allergic immune responses, leading to the development of immune tolerance.

Circassia has successfully completed a number of phase II studies with its cat, house dust mite, ragweed and grass allergy therapies. Clinical results have shown that short courses of Circassia's allergy treatments are well tolerated and can greatly reduce patients' allergic responses, without the need for adjuvants or other immune stimulators. These treatments offer major potential clinical benefits when compared with existing therapies.

Market

Peak product sales for Circassia’s four lead products has been estimated at $2.5 billion per year by external consultants. This has been corroborated by further research by which estimates that the market for Circassia’s cat product alone is over $0.6 billion. The global market for allergy treatments is currently underserved, despite large numbers of sufferers: more than 150 million people suffer from allergic rhinitis in the US and Europe, and the total treatment market for allergies is estimated at $12 billion.

Investment History

Circassia has raised a total of £105 million to date from investors including Imperial Innovations and Invesco Perpetual.