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Prosensa raises EUR 18 million Series B financing
[ Woensdag 17 december 2008 | Razende Robot Reporter ]
PRESS RELEASE
Prosensa raises EUR 18 million Series B financing
Leiden, Netherlands, December 17th, 2008
Prosensa Holding B.V., a Netherlands based biotechnology company focused on RNA interference therapeutics using exon skipping technology, today announced that it has closed an EUR 18 million series B round. The investor base will be strengthened by Gimv (Antwerp) and AGF (Paris). Current shareholders LSP and Abingworth, leading international investors based in Amsterdam and London respectively, and MedSciences Capital, also an existing shareholder, also participated in the round.
Prosensa will use the funds to develop its two lead programs, in the field of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), through clinical proof of concept studies. Prosensa's exon skipping technology uses oligoribonucleotides to restore production of dystrophin, the protein defective in DMD patients. These oligonucleotides are designed to remove an unwanted segment of the faulty DMD gene product, and represent a major step toward the development of an effective therapy for DMD. There is currently no curative therapy for this lethal condition.
“We are delighted to have concluded this financing round in a difficult financial climate with a syndicate of highly experienced life sciences investors. The funds raised will enable us to achieve human proof of concept even more quickly with our key DMD program, in line with our goal of building the company into a focused, product development company.”, said Gerard Platenburg, Prosensa's CEO. Following the closing of this financing round, Dr Jim Van heusden (Gimv) and Dr Remi Droller (AGF) will join the Supervisory Board.
Dr Jim Van heusden commented: “Prosensa's exon skipping technology is one of the most promising new approaches to treat DMD and a number of other genetic diseases. The current financing round will allow Prosensa to further show the full potential of its lead compound PRO051, which so far produced exciting clinical data.”
Remi Droller commented: “Prosensa offers a truly compelling investment opportunity: We have already seen promising clinical data emerging from Prosensa technology that address important, unmet medical needs and this first class investment syndicate will give to the company the resources to reach major achievements in DMD treatment. AGF Private Equity is very pleased to support Prosensa pioneering work.”
About Prosensa (www.prosensa.eu)
Prosensa BV is an innovative Dutch Biopharmaceutical Company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of nucleic acid based therapeutics correcting gene expression in diseases with large unmet medical needs, in particular neuromuscular disorders.
The Company is focused on developing a medicine for DMD (Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy). DMD is a genetic lethal childhood's disease with an incidence of approximately 1 in 3,500 new born boys. Clinical signs of muscle weakness start as early as 2 years of age affecting all muscles. Treatment of patients with DMD to date primarily involves supportive therapy. No curative treatment, re-establishing the function of dystrophin, the protein that is lacking in DMD patients, is yet available.
About Gimv (www.gimv.com)
Gimv is a European investment company with nearly 30 years of experience in private equity and venture capital. The company is listed on Euronext Brussels and currently manages around EUR 1.8 billion of assets (including third party funds). Gimv undertakes buyouts and provides growth capital to established companies. Local teams in Belgium, France, The Netherlands and Germany concentrate on these activities. Gimv makes venture capital investments in the technology sector through its specialist teams in Life Sciences, Technology and Cleantech.
Its DG Infra+ fund focuses on infrastructure projects in the Benelux. For growth capital investments in Russia, Gimv has a joint venture with KBC Private Equity. For more information about Gimv, please visit our website: www.gimv.com
About AGF Private Equity (www.agfpe.com)
AGF Private Equity, a subsidiary of the Allianz Group, is specialised in capital investment. The company manages an investment portfolio of more than 2 billion Euros, is among the leaders in managing funds of funds and venture capital. The Venture capital team has invested in seventy high-tech companies. AGF Private Equity has a regular and long-term investment capacity: around 50 million Euros are invested each year in young companies with strong potential. With close to 450 million Euros under management in its Venture Capital activity, AGF Private Equity is an active partner of growth companies. For more information, www.agfpe.com
For more information, please contact:
Gerard Platenburg, CEO, g.platenburg@prosensa.nl
Luc Dochez, VP Business Development, l.dochez@prosensa.nl
Prosensa Therapeutics BV
Wassenaarseweg 72
2333 AL Leiden
The Netherlands
T: +31 71 3322100
W: www.prosensa.eu
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