Cambridge, UK. 3rd July 2007 - Serentis, a Cambridge UK, based
biopharmaceutical company focussed on product development announced
today that it has completed a £10.3 million ($20.6 million) Series A
financing round.
The investment was jointly led by leading Life Science venture funds,
MVM Life Science Partners LLP, Apposite Capital LLP and Novo A/S. Dr
Martin Murphy (MVM Life Science Partners LLP), Dr Allan Marchington
(Apposite Capital LLP) and Dr Martin Edwards (Novo A/S) have joined
the board of Serentis.
Established in 2006, Serentis, which has considerable expertise in
product discovery and development, will use the funds to progress its
lead products into clinical-stage proof-of-principle trials and to
expand its development pipeline. Pipeline products will be identified
via Serentis' internal, low-risk discovery activities and by
licensing near-clinical stage assets and technologies.
"I am delighted that Serentis has received significant support from
its syndicate of leading, experienced healthcare investors. The funds
raised will provide the financial resources to enable the company to
further build its management team and to develop both its internal
programs and licensing activities and thereby rapidly build a robust
clinical-stage pipeline." commented Tim Sharpington, Chief Executive
Officer and co-founder of Serentis.
Dr Martin Murphy, Partner at MVM Life Science and Chairman of
Serentis commented:
"The management team at Serentis have an impressive track record of
innovating and developing low-risk development compounds which can be
rapidly progressed to proof-of-principle studies. We are pleased to
be able to support the company in order to allow expansion of the
management team and progression of the lead compounds."
Dr Allan Marchington, Partner at Apposite Capital, said:
"We are excited to be making this investment in Serentis. The
additional financial resources will enable the company to expand its
in-licensing capabilities and provide best-in-class development for
in-licensed compounds for the benefit of both Serentis and the
originating companies. We are extremely pleased with the progress
the company's management team has made during the short time since
the company's formation. The company now has the financial resources
to build on this success."
Dr Martin Edwards, Partner at Novo A/S quoted:
"Novo A/S are delighted to support the further growth and development
of Serentis by co-leading this investment. I look forward to working
with the management team and my fellow investor directors to build a
very successful UK-based biotech company."
Serentis was advised by Heller Ehrman (Chris Grew and Stacy Kim) and
the investors were advised by Dechert (Charles Waddell).
Enquiries:
Serentis Inc
Tim Sharpington, Chief Executive Officer
Tel: + 44 1223 437028; email: timsharpington@serentis-pharma.com
MVM Life Science Partners LLP
Dr Martin Murphy, Partner
Tel: +44 20 7557 7500; email: martinmurphy@mvmlifescience.com
Apposite Capital LLP
Dr Allan Marchington, Partner
Tel: +44 20 7090 6869; email: allan.marchington@apposite-capital.com
Novo A/S
Dr Martin Edwards, Partner
Tel: +44 780 289 3240; email: med@novo.dk
Notes to Editors
About Serentis
Serentis Inc is a privately owned biopharmaceutical company
incorporated in Delaware in 2006. Its current operations, Serentis
Ltd, are based in Cambridge, UK. The company is developing a pipeline
of products in areas of unmet medical need. Its initial focus is in
the areas of wound care/dermatology and cancer supportive care with
additional research programmes in fibrotic disease and diabetic
complications. Serentis has in-house, low risk discovery
capabilities. The company also intends to utilise its core
development skills by licensing near-clinical stage products and
technologies. The development model undertaken by Serentis is based
on a fast to proof-of-principle approach.
For further information visit www.serentis-pharma.com
About MVM Life Science Partners
MVM Life Science Partners LLP is a Venture Capital Firm, founded in
1997, that invests in companies that discover, develop and
commercialise innovations in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and
medical devices for the life science and healthcare markets.
MVM raised its first fund in 1998 with £40 million in commitments,
the second in 2001 with £110 million and is currently raising its
third fund.
MVM has offices in both London and Boston making investments
predominantly in Western Europe and the Eastern US and has a growing
team with wide ranging experience across the Life Science and Private
Equity markets.
For further information about MVM please visit www.mvmlifescience.com
About Apposite Capital LLP
Apposite is a single sector fund investing in both life sciences and
healthcare services on an international basis. Based in London,
Apposite was established by the Mizuho Financial Group, one of
Japan's largest financial services companies. The members of the
Apposite team have a highly synergistic mix of healthcare
venture/private equity, entrepreneurship, management and investment
banking experience spanning many decades. Apposite also benefits from
an established global network of leading advisors covering all
aspects of the global healthcare market. The fund's strategy is to
leverage the capabilities of the team and its advisors, combined with
the fund's extensive range of contacts in Japan, Europe and the US to
continuously add value to its portfolio companies. For more
information about Apposite please visit the website
www.apposite-capital.com or send an e-mail to:
allan.marchington@apposite-capital.com.
About Novo A/S
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 has over $8 billion
under management, which includes significant shareholdings in the
independently operating and public listed companies Novo Nordisk A/S
and Novozymes A/S. Novo A/S provides venture capital for life science
companies with a pioneering concept driven by high quality
individuals, who seek a dedicated investment partner to help them
advance towards commercialisation of ideas, products or services.
Novo A/S has active investments in more than 30 European and North
American life science based companies. For more information about
Novo A/S please visit www.novo.dk