f-star Raises EUR15M in a new Financing led by SR One
– To Progress Product Candidates Into Development and Maximise Potential
of the Modular Antibody Technology Platform
f-star GmbH, a biopharmaceutical company developing a new generation of
antibody based products using its Modular Antibody Technology platform, today
announced the closing of a
by SR One, the corporate venture capital arm of GlaxoSmithKline. All of
f-star’s existing investors, Atlas Venture, Aescap Venture, Novo Ventures,
TVM Capital, Merck Serono Ventures and MP Healthcare Venture Management, also
participated in the round. As a result of the financing SR One Partner Dr
Supervisory Board.
“f-star has shown that its Modular Antibody Technology platform can
generate multiple high affinity biotherapeutics against targets of varying
precedence and novelty in both single- and bi-specific formats”, said Dr
Harland. “We believe the platform has the potential to generate numerous
novel differentiated biologics with advanced efficacy, tissue penetration and
targeting capabilities compared to traditional antibodies and are excited to
be part of the next stage of the company’s development.”
Dr
are delighted to welcome SR One as a new investor in f-star. With this
financing we are now ideally placed to progress the first product candidates
generated from our unique platform through IND enabling studies and
thereafter into the clinic.”
About f-star
f-star is developing novel, differentiated therapeutic antibodies and
antibody fragments using its Modular Antibody Technology. The technology
enables the introduction of additional antigen binding sites into antibodies
by engineering the non-CDR loops of constant or variable domains. Using
Modular Antibody Technology f-star generates antibody fragments with full
antibody functionality and long half-life but with much smaller size
(Fcab(TM)) and full antibodies with additional functionality or bispecificity
(mAb2). Since its founding in 2006 the company has raised
23 employees at its research sites in
For more information, visit http://www.f-star.com
About SR One
SR One is the corporate venture capital arm of GlaxoSmithKline. The firm
invests globally in emerging life science companies that are pursuing
innovative science which will significantly impact medical care. Since 1985,
SR One has invested in more than 135 companies.
For more information, visit http://www.srone.com
About Aescap Venture
Aescap Venture is a venture capital firm focusing on the creation and
growth of European biomedical companies. Through early and active involvement
in the companies, Aescap Venture will achieve an accelerated development of
its portfolio companies and their products. Aescap Venture I has a size of
Atlas Venture until 2000 and Dinko Valerio PhD, the founder and former CEO of
Crucell, a Euronext/ NASDAQ-listed biotechnology company. Additional Partners
are Patrick Krol MBA, a successful entrepreneur and expert in Life Science
marketing and business development and Kreske Nickelsen MSc/MBA, with 14
years of experience in European Life Science venture capital.
For more information, visit http://www.aescap.com
About Atlas Venture
Atlas Venture is a leading early-stage international venture capital firm
that invests in technology and life sciences businesses in the U.S.,
and
companies in more than 16 different countries. In the past decade, 44
portfolio companies have been acquired and 47 are now public companies with
an aggregate market capitalization of over
over
For more information, visit http://www.atlasventure.com
About Merck Serono Ventures
Merck Serono Ventures is the strategic, corporate venture capital fund of
Merck Serono, the division for biopharmaceuticals of Merck KGaA. The fund
invests in emerging biotechnology companies with the potential to provide
breakthrough medical solutions in Merck Serono’s focus therapeutic areas:
Oncology, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Rheumatology, Fertility and
Endocrinology. In addition, Merck Serono Ventures invests in companies
developing innovative technologies that could enable the discovery and
development of new products in its core therapeutic areas.
For more information, visit http://www.merckserono.com
About MP Healthcare Venture Management
MP Healthcare Venture Management, Inc. (MPH) is a life sciences venture
capital firm, investing in innovative companies developing novel
therapeutics, platform technologies, vaccines and diagnostics. MPH invests in
seed to late stage private companies, and investment is not limited by
geographic region. MPH is a jointly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Tanabe
Pharma Corporation (MTPC) and Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation (MCHC).
For more information, visit http://www.mp-healthcare.com
About Novo Ventures
Novo A/S is the holding company of the Novo Group, and is wholly owned by
the Novo Nordisk Foundation. Novo A/S was established in 1999 to manage the
assets of the Foundation and actively make investments on behalf of the
Foundation. Novo A/S is not a corporate strategic fund; Novo A/S invests for
financial rather than strategic returns. Novo A/S is active in both
and
four Partners in
an evergreen structure, Novo A/S annually invests approximately
million
Novo A/S has more than
significant shareholdings in the independently operating and publicly listed
companies Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S.
For more information, visit http://www.novo.dk
About TVM Capital
The TVM Capital Life Science Practice is, with
management, one of the largest investors in venture and growth deals in
biotechnology and pharmaceuticals in
U.S. and a growing presence in
expertise, experience, international approach and demonstrated success in
more than 115 previous in-vestments and more than 30 IPOs from its
biotechnology and pharmaceutical portfolio of companies.
For more information, visit http://www.tvm-capital.com
For further details please contact:
f-star
Kevin FitzGerald PhD MBA T: +44(0)1223-896350
Chief Executive Officer E: office@f-star.com
M:Communications
Nick Francis T: +44(0)20-7920-2330
E: francis@mcomgroup.com
SOURCE f-star