Tag: Financing round

Company News: vasopharm Closes Series F Financing Round

– Company receives additional €5 million for preparation of Phase III study –

vasopharm GmbH, a privately held biopharmaceutical company focusing on novel therapeutics for the treatment of cerebro- and cardiovascular diseases, today announced the successful completion of a Series F financing round totalling €5 million (~ US$6.5 million). The round was led by existing investors HeidelbergCapital Private Equity and Entrepreneurs Fund (EF Investments S.à.r.l.). Bayern Kapital, another existing investor, also participated in the Series F round. The consortium was joined by new investors Hanseatic Asset Management LBG and Dr Andrew Clark, Chairman of the Board of vasopharm. The new consortium also acquired the shares of one of the founding investors seeking to exit.

The proceeds of this round will be used primarily for the preparation of a Phase III clinical study of the company’s lead compound VAS203, an allosteric nitric oxide synthase inhibitor under development for the treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI). The compound has met all clinical endpoints for safety and demonstrated strong evidence of clinical benefit in the Phase IIa European NOSTRA trial completed in 2012. Detailed results of the trial will be published soon in a peer-reviewed journal.

Company News: Curetis Raises EUR 12.5 Million in Series B Round Led by New Investor HBM Partners

– Co-investment of all current institutional investors as well as several private investors and management

– Company now has access to over EUR 20 million in cash for the next phase of commercial and operational growth

Curetis AG today announced the closing of a Series B financing round totaling EUR 12.5 million. The financing was led by HBM Partners, which has taken a EUR 6.0 million equity stake in Curetis. Dr. Alexander Asam of HBM will join Curetis’ supervisory board.

In addition, the company’s existing institutional investors aeris Capital, LSP Life Sciences Partners, Forbion Capital, BioMedInvest, Roche Venture Fund, CD Venture and KfW have contributed a total of EUR 5.6 million to the round on a pro rata basis. Curetis’ management as well as several of the company’s founders, private investors and board members also co-invested.

Including the latest Series B financing, Curetis has raised a total of EUR 49.1 million in equity capital to date.

Curetis will use the proceeds for the next phase of commercial and operational growth, including a prospective, multi-center FDA registrational trial with 2,000 patients and the further expansion of the company’s commercial activities and team in Europe.

Curetis anticipates a phase of rapid market adoption in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) where more than 50 top tier hospitals have agreed to install Unyvero™ for local testing. The inclusion of Unyvero™ in an upcoming global Phase IIb trial by Sanofi Pasteur is expected to add further momentum to the market penetration of Unyvero™.

Moreover, the company expects to continue the rapid international expansion of its commercial distribution network across Europe and the Middle East, but also towards Asia, Latin America and, following FDA clearance, to the USA.

Further upcoming milestones include the market launch of a second Unyvero™ cartridge application (ITI) together with Heraeus Medical and clinical data from a global Phase III trial in community-acquired bacterial pneumonia conducted by Cempra Pharmaceuticals.

Company News: Curetis AG Attracts Forbion and Roche As New Investors

– Series A financing round expanded to €34.1 million –

Curetis AG, an innovative molecular diagnostics company focusing on the development and commercialization of in-vitro diagnostic products for infectious diseases, today announced the expansion of its Series A financing round by € 9.6 million. The additional funds increase the round to a total of € 34.1 million and the total capital raised to date to € 36.6 million. The financing was led by Forbion Capital Partners together with Roche Venture Fund. CD-Venture and Curetis ́ management also participated in the round. Holger Reithinger, Partner at Forbion Capital Partners, has joined Curetis’ Board of Directors. Roche will get an observer seat on the Board of Directors.

Since its inception in 2007, Curetis AG has developed the versatile Unyvero™ instrument platform which handles disease-specific disposable cartridges for the analysis of various marker panels, covering both pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes. The Unyvero™ platform combines a unique, fully automated sample preparation working with a comprehensive range of native clinical sample types, with isolation, amplification and highly multiplexed detection of DNA. The simplified, automated and uniform work flow enables testing at the point of need, eliminates operator-induced variations and ensures high-quality results in a short time frame. The first application, a solution for comprehensive pneumonia testing, has successfully completed extensive pre-clinical testing, is about to enter into pivotal clinical trials towards regulatory clearance and is scheduled to enter the European market as a CE-marked device in 2012.

Company News: Aleva Neurotherapeutics Closes EUR 9.5 Million Series A Financing Round

– Novel Products for Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) to Be Advanced Into the Clinic –

Aleva Neurotherapeutics, a company developing next-generation implants for Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) in major neurological indications such as Parkinson´s disease or depression, today announced the closing of a Series A financing round totaling EUR 9.5 million. Aleva was founded in 2008 as a spin-off from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Microsystems Laboratory.

The round was funded by a group of seasoned industry specialists and co-led by BioMedInvest AG (managed by BioMedPartners AG, Basel, Switzerland) and BB BIOTECH VENTURES III, L.P. (advised by Bellevue Asset Management AG, Kuesnacht, Switzerland). Initiative Capital Romandie (Lausanne, Switzerland) and renowned private investors also participated in the financing.

The proceeds will be used to support the development of Aleva’s pioneering product pipeline for neurostimulation, which is based on the company’s proprietary microDBS™ technology. microDBS™ is a next-generation technology addressing Deep Brain Stimulation therapy, currently a US$ 450 million market with strong double-digit growth rates.

Aleva’s microDBS™ technology for target-specific stimulation has been developed to significantly reduce the side effects and potential complications as well as the costs of DBS therapy. Moreover, its features allow for expanding the existing DBS market to new indications which cannot be addressed by currently available technologies.

The company is developing three products based on its microDBS™ technology: directSTIM™, an intelligent electrode compatible with existing DBS platforms; spiderSTIM™, a full solution for both intra-surgical and long-term therapeutic use; and the cortiSTIM™ device for cortical stimulation. All products will be compatible with marketed pulse generators. Clinical trials of the lead product, directSTIM™, are scheduled to start later this year.

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