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CEVEC raises €4M to finance strong growth of human CAP® technology
Cologne, Germany, November 03, 2009 / b3c newswire / - CEVEC
Pharmaceuticals, specializing in the development of complex therapeutic proteins
based on the human CAP® Technology, today announced the closing of a €4M
financing round. Creathor Venture Fonds and NRW.BANK led this round which
included the participation from current investors and a group of private and
institutional investors including the venture capital branch of Sparkasse
KoelnBonn , and ERP Startfonds of KfW bank, both Germany. The funding provides
CEVEC with adequate means to continue the global commercialization of the
proprietary CAP® Technology platform.
The CAP® Technology platform comprises human CAP® and CAP-T™ expression systems
and is used for the manufacture of complex biologics and therapeutic antibodies
with human-like glycosylation and sialylation patterns. Starting with transient
protein expression using CAP-T™ up to stable expression using CAP® cells, the
CAP® Technology is applicable from initial research ideas up to GMP-compliant
manufacturing of clinical samples and market supplies.
Dr. Rainer Lichtenberger, CEO of CEVEC comments: “We are delighted to have with
Creathor Venture and NRW.BANK two first-class investors on board who value the
unique strengths of the CAP® Technology and provide the resources required to
finance the company’s ambitious growth objectives.”
Wolfgang Kintzel, CCO of CEVEC states: “The global market launch of CAP® und
CAP-TTM in Europe, Asia/Pacific and the U.S. was very successful. This
impressive success in such a short time marks a milestone in our goal to become
the leading cell line supplier for protein production with human cell expression
systems.”
Gangolf Ehlen, President of CEVEC’s supervisory board and previous lead investor
concludes: “The overwhelming market success of the CAP® Technology after three
years of hard work made the novel financing round a logic step which is all the
more meaningful as we are in a difficult economic environment.”
Karlheinz Schmelig, Managing Director at Creathor Venture Management GmbH and
Aristotelis Nastos, NRW.BANK, comment: “The global protein production market is
ready for a high performance human expression system. CEVEC has a very strong
R&D as well as management team and will accelerate to strengthen it´s global
marketing & sales presence.”
About CEVEC Pharmaceuticals GmbH -
www.cevec-pharmaceuticals.com
CEVEC Pharmaceuticals GmbH, operational since 2004 and located in Cologne,
Germany, is a biopharmaceutical company that specializes in developing and
producing therapeutic proteins and monoclonal antibodies with human
glycosylation patterns. CEVEC’s novel proprietary and patent-protected human
CAP™ and CAP-T expression systems are ideal for manufacturing complex
biopharmaceutical molecules. CEVEC is licensing out its human cell-based
expression platform as well as the biological product candidates in internal
development through partnerships with renowned pharmaceutical and biotech
companies.
About Creathor Venture- www.creathor.de
CREATHOR VENTURE invests in technology-oriented companies and entrepreneurs
from the fields of life science, IT, telecommunication, new media, new
materials, electronics, nanotechnology and clean tech.
CREATHOR VENTURE’s management team includes Dr. Gert Köhler, the founder of the
former Technologieholding VC GmbH, as well as Ingo Franz and Karlheinz Schmelig.
The team has been working in early-stage venture capital for 20 years. During
that time more than 200 technology companies have been financed and over 20 IPOs
as well as numerous trade sales have been conducted.
Extraordinarily successful companies that the partners have managed from the
first round of financing to IPO include Micronas (SMI), SEZ (SMI), Intershop
(Prime Segment), Infovista (NASDAQ, Nouveau Marché) and ITN Nanovation (Prime
Segment).
About NRW.BANK - www.nrwbank.de
NRW.BANK operates as a state development bank of the State of North
Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It offers various lending tools, including funding
aids provided under the development programs of the federal state, the federal
government, and the EU to equity and debt financing. The company provides
education financing, which include products for financing training and further
education; and tuition fee loans. It also offers public promotion and equity
finance products to small and medium-sized enterprises. In addition, NRW.BANK
processes infrastructure funding products of the state of North-Rhine Westphalia
and the German federal government; provides local authorities in North
Rhine-Westphalia with advice, structuring, and customized funding products for
interest rate and cash management; structures and finances public private
partnerships, and participates in structured loans; and offers equity products
for the public sector. Further, it executes the housing programs of KfW
Forderbank, Germany’s federal development bank. The company was founded in 2002
and is headquartered in Dusseldorf, Germany
About Sparkasse KoelnBonn -
www.sparkasse-koelnbonn.de
Sparkasse KoelnBonn is the largest communal savings bank under public law in
Germany. Besides a full range of banking services to retail and corporate
customers they also offer equity solutions: private equity and Mezzanine for
established midsize companies and venture capital for innovative high-growth
companies. The venture capital investments of Sparkasse KoelnBonn are always
realized together with other investors well versed in the particular industry
and are concentrated on the area around the two cities Cologne and Bonn. RTZ
Cologne, a startup center, where Cevec Pharmaceuticals has its location, is also
part of their portfolio.
Contact:
Wolfgang Kintzel
Chief Commercial Officer / Geschäftsführer
CEVEC Pharmaceuticals GmbH
Gottfried-Hagen Straße 62
D-51105 Köln
Germany
fon +49 (0) 221-46 02 08 - 00
fax +49 (0) 221-46 02 08 - 01
kintzel@cevec-pharmaceuticals.com
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