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Forbion Capital Partners leads EUR30M Series B
Financing in Fovea Pharmaceuticals S.A
Forbion invests in clinical stage ophthalmology play,
leading a top-tier, international venture syndicate
Naarden, The Netherlands – December 12, 2007; Forbion Capital Partners today
announced it has led a EUR 30M ($44M) Series B financing of Fovea
Pharmaceuticals SA (Paris, France), a biopharmaceutical company developing novel
therapeutics for the treatment of ophthalmic diseases.
Alongside Forbion, this financing is supported by a strong, international
syndicate of new and existing investors, including all Fovea’s existing
institutional investors; Sofinnova Partners, Abingworth, GIMV, The Wellcome
Trust and CAPE.
Fovea plans to use the proceeds from this financing to advance its clinical and
preclinical pipeline and further develop its technology platform. In 2008, Fovea
expects to advance its FOV1101 program for chronic allergic conjunctivitis into
Phase II clinical trials and to initiate Phase II studies of its FOV2302 and
FOV2301 programmes for the treatment of acute and diabetic macular oedema
respectively. The company expects to bring its fourth drug candidate, FOV2501, a
protein discovered by Pr Jose Sahel’s team, into clinical trials in the first
half of 2009.
“We are pleased that these leading investment firms recognize the value of
Fovea’s well balanced pipeline and unparalleled expertise in developing these
novel therapies” said Bernard Gilly, Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
of Fovea Pharmaceuticals. “The company has made enormous progress and this
financing will enable us to continue to advance our lead programs through
later-stage clinical studies.”
“Forbion Capital Partners invests in biopharmaceutical companies pursuing first
or best in class drugs. In particular, we focus on companies with strong domain
expertise and experienced management. Fovea in our view is well positioned to
become a leader in the ophthalmology field. We are impressed by how quickly they
have built a highly promising pipeline of products, which will be validated in
the clinic using the proceeds of this financing round,” said Sander Slootweg,
managing partner at Forbion Capital Partners. “We are delighted to invest in
Fovea Pharmaceuticals and join an experienced and proven management team along
with a very strong and committed group of investors.”
In connection with the financing, Sander Slootweg will join the Board of
Directors which is comprised of Antoine Papiernik (Sofinnova Partners), Tim
Haines (Abingworth), Anthony Wild (Bows Pharmaceuticals) and Bernard Gilly.
Bernard Gilly has been elected as Chairman of the Board.
“Fovea’s unique product platform has led to the generation of a robust pipeline
of promising therapeutic candidates for the treatment of front and back of the
eye disorders. Clinical candidates are already in development and we expect at
least three new products to progress into the clinic in 2008,” commented Pr.
Jose Sahel, Founder of Fovea Pharmaceuticals and Chairman of the Vision
Institute in Paris. “It has been a pleasure to work with the talented and
productive team at Fovea, and we all look forward to continued progress in
exploiting the potential of these novel dedicated therapies.”
Fovea Pharmaceuticals has recently signed a Research Partnership Agreement with
Genzyme to develop gene related therapies, using Fovea’s selected targets to
treat major retinal dystrophies.
-ENDS-
About Forbion Capital Partners
Forbion Capital Partners invests in EU and US Life Sciences companies,
developing world-class products and technologies. The Forbion team has invested
in 38 drug development and med tech companies since 2000, initially as ABN AMRO
Capital Life Sciences, the venture arm of ABN AMRO Bank NV. In December of 2006
the group became independent by broadening its investor base and changing its
name to Forbion Capital Partners. In recent years, the Forbion team has
successfully divested from 13 portfolio companies, leaving an active portfolio
of 25 companies. Assets under management currently exceed EUR 200 M.
For additional information about Forbion Capital Partners, please visit
www.forbion.com
About FOVEA:
Fovea Pharmaceuticals SA (Fovea) is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company
specialized in development and commercialization of drugs for the treatment of
ocular diseases, with a special focus on retinal pathologies. Created in May
2005, Fovea has a highly experienced board and management team. Fovea has been
funded by six leading European investors including Forbion Capital Partners,
Sofinnova Partners, Abingworth Management, The Wellcome Trust, GIMV and Crédit
Agricole Private Equity.
FOVEA has built a project portfolio including internal research programs on dry
AMD, glaucoma (neuroprotection), retinal dystrophies as well as clinical
programs underway for such indications as macular edema, allergic
conjunctivitis, or retinitis pigmentosa.
To advance the development and commercialization of its programs, FOVEA is
working both independently and through collaborators including industrial
partners like Novartis, Genzyme, CombinatoRx, as well as with academic teams,
like the Inserm unit U592, the Rothschild Ophthalmological Foundation, or the
Johns Hopkins University.
For additional information about FOVEA and its programs, please visit
www.fovea-pharma.com
Enquiries
College Hill Life Sciences
Adam Michael / Justine Lamond
Ph: +44 (0)2 7866 7857
forbion@collegehill.com
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