Promethera® Biosciences Raises EUR 5.3 million through Series A Capital Round to Develop Technology in Treatment of Liver Diseases
The spin-off from Université catholique de Louvain is now ready to complete pre-clinical studies for an innovative stem cell therapy to treat unmet medical needs and to circumvent liver transplantation.
Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium, October 29th 2009 - Promethera® Biosciences an innovative stem cell therapy company today announces the successful closing of a EUR 5.3 million capital increase in a Series-A equity financing round. The investor syndicate, led by Vesalius Biocapital (Belgium), includes SRIW, Life Sciences Research Partners, NivelInvest, Capital & Croissance, LRM Oxygen for Growth, Vives, several business angels as well as existing shareholders, (Sopartec and the founder, Prof Etienne Sokal, UCL). The round will be completed by significant public funding. Alain Parthoens, Partner at Vesalius Biocapital announces: "Promethera® Biosciences' stem cell technology has impressive potential with a strong proprietary position in addition to benefiting from a high quality management team. We believe that Promethera® Biosciences is well positioned to play a leading role in tomorrow's liver regenerative medicine market".
Stem cell therapy to treat a large range of liver diseases which were, until now, incurable. Promethera® Biosciences develops a new cell therapy product using allogeneic stem cells expanded from healthy human liver tissue. This product called Promethera® HepaStem aims to treat a wide variety of liver diseases affecting children and adults. The innovation exists in both the simplicity of the treatment, which doesn't require radical surgery (compared to liver transplantation), and in the wide variety of liver pathologies that can be addressed with the same product. In conjunction, Promethera® Biosciences is developing, Promethera® HepaScreen, a unique cell model for the pharmaceutical industry to mimic metabolism and detoxification of new drugs by the human liver.
Eric Halioua, CEO at Promethera® Biosciences, says: "We are very excited by this major equity financing, one of the most significant early stage investments in our sector in Europe in the past year.
Promethera® Biosciences' ability to attract funding from such an investor syndicate, in a very difficult financial market, is a strong vote of confidence as well as being a testimony to the tremendous value creation potential of the company and its team. Promethera® Biosciences is now well positioned to execute its business plan over the next three years". A spin-off from Université catholique de Louvain with great potential. The company is a spin-off from the Laboratory of Paediatric Hepatology and Cell Therapy headed by Professor Etienne Sokal, an internationally renowned scientist and clinician in the field of paediatric liver diseases. The Promethera® Biosciences' technology is supported by a close collaboration with Prof. Sokal's laboratory and the medical paediatric hepatology group at Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc of UCL which recently performed the first ever injection of a human adult liver progenitor cell into a patient. This clinical translation constitutes an important achievement in the future development of Promethera® HepaStem.
Prof. Etienne Sokal, comments: "This significant equity financing brings the guarantee of an actual industrial development of a promising therapy issued after many years of academic research under the support of national and regional funds, and charities. Promethera® Biosciences will now give a solid prospect to cure patients' suffering from highly debilitating and often incurable diseases. The tremendous work carried out by the lab team has benefited from strong institutional support, trough administration of research and Sopartec, the Technology Transfer Office which worked together with the founders to build the strong intellectual property and a solid investor's consortium. I also wish to point out the continuous support from the Walloon region from the early phase of the research to the formation of the company".
For any further information, please contact:
Eric Halioua, CEO
Promethera Biosciences, 6 chemin du Cyclotron, B-1348 Louvain-La-Neuve,Belgium
Tel: +32 (0)10 39 00 35
eric.halioua@promethera.com - www.Promethera.com
Etienne Sokal CSO, Founding Director and professor at the UCL Promethera Biosciences
Tel: +32 475 25 63 72
etienne.sokal@promethera.com
www.promethera.com
Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium, October 29th 2009 - Promethera® Biosciences an innovative stem cell therapy company today announces the successful closing of a EUR 5.3 million capital increase in a Series-A equity financing round. The investor syndicate, led by Vesalius Biocapital (Belgium), includes SRIW, Life Sciences Research Partners, NivelInvest, Capital & Croissance, LRM Oxygen for Growth, Vives, several business angels as well as existing shareholders, (Sopartec and the founder, Prof Etienne Sokal, UCL). The round will be completed by significant public funding. Alain Parthoens, Partner at Vesalius Biocapital announces: "Promethera® Biosciences' stem cell technology has impressive potential with a strong proprietary position in addition to benefiting from a high quality management team. We believe that Promethera® Biosciences is well positioned to play a leading role in tomorrow's liver regenerative medicine market".
Stem cell therapy to treat a large range of liver diseases which were, until now, incurable. Promethera® Biosciences develops a new cell therapy product using allogeneic stem cells expanded from healthy human liver tissue. This product called Promethera® HepaStem aims to treat a wide variety of liver diseases affecting children and adults. The innovation exists in both the simplicity of the treatment, which doesn't require radical surgery (compared to liver transplantation), and in the wide variety of liver pathologies that can be addressed with the same product. In conjunction, Promethera® Biosciences is developing, Promethera® HepaScreen, a unique cell model for the pharmaceutical industry to mimic metabolism and detoxification of new drugs by the human liver.
Eric Halioua, CEO at Promethera® Biosciences, says: "We are very excited by this major equity financing, one of the most significant early stage investments in our sector in Europe in the past year.
Promethera® Biosciences' ability to attract funding from such an investor syndicate, in a very difficult financial market, is a strong vote of confidence as well as being a testimony to the tremendous value creation potential of the company and its team. Promethera® Biosciences is now well positioned to execute its business plan over the next three years". A spin-off from Université catholique de Louvain with great potential. The company is a spin-off from the Laboratory of Paediatric Hepatology and Cell Therapy headed by Professor Etienne Sokal, an internationally renowned scientist and clinician in the field of paediatric liver diseases. The Promethera® Biosciences' technology is supported by a close collaboration with Prof. Sokal's laboratory and the medical paediatric hepatology group at Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc of UCL which recently performed the first ever injection of a human adult liver progenitor cell into a patient. This clinical translation constitutes an important achievement in the future development of Promethera® HepaStem.
Prof. Etienne Sokal, comments: "This significant equity financing brings the guarantee of an actual industrial development of a promising therapy issued after many years of academic research under the support of national and regional funds, and charities. Promethera® Biosciences will now give a solid prospect to cure patients' suffering from highly debilitating and often incurable diseases. The tremendous work carried out by the lab team has benefited from strong institutional support, trough administration of research and Sopartec, the Technology Transfer Office which worked together with the founders to build the strong intellectual property and a solid investor's consortium. I also wish to point out the continuous support from the Walloon region from the early phase of the research to the formation of the company".
For any further information, please contact:
Eric Halioua, CEO
Promethera Biosciences, 6 chemin du Cyclotron, B-1348 Louvain-La-Neuve,Belgium
Tel: +32 (0)10 39 00 35
eric.halioua@promethera.com - www.Promethera.com
Etienne Sokal CSO, Founding Director and professor at the UCL Promethera Biosciences
Tel: +32 475 25 63 72
etienne.sokal@promethera.com
www.promethera.com
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