Pharma Cerenis Gets 50.7 Million Euros
Cerenis Therapeutics SA, a pharmaceutical startup based in Toulouse, France with laboratories in Ann Arbor, Monday reported funding of €10.7 million from the French government as well as €40 million in series C financing.
Ann Arbor's EDF Ventures was among the investors.
The French government funding is intended to finance the development of CER-001, a promising new approach in the fight against atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, better known as clogged coronary arteries.
In preclinical tests, CER-001 has shown the strong ability to promote reverse lipid transport, a natural mechanism by which excess fats are removed from peripheral tissues and from within atherosclerotic plaques then taken to the liver for elimination.
The program is currently in Phase 1 clinical development for the treatment of post-acute coronary syndrome patients.
The funding will allow the further progression of Cerenis' novel HDL therapy for orphan disease applications, which represent a large area of unmet need and the potential for an accelerated development pathway.
Cerenis and Novasep have collaborated on the process development for CER-001 since 2007, focusing on downstream processing of the recombinant protein component. Under this funding and an expanded agreement, Novasep will be responsible for the global manufacturing of clinical and initial commercial supplies for the orphan drug development program.
The €40 million, meanwhile, was split between the Fund for Strategic Investment with an additional €20 million coming from existing investors Sofinnova Partners, HealthCap, Alta Partners, TVM Capital, EDF Ventures, OrbiMed and DAIWA Corporate Investment.
This third round of funding will fund Phase II human testing of CER-001.
This round of financing brings the total capital raised to date by the company to €107 million.
"We welcome the FSI as a new investor and are very pleased to have such strong support from our current investors,: said Jean-Louis Dasseux, co-founder and CEO of Cerenis. "This support recognizes the progress made to date in the development of Cerenis in the field of HDL, the promise of the pipeline of products, and the quality of Cerenis' team."
The objectives of this funding round are to promote the development of a treatment to rapidly regress atherosclerotic plaque, a novel approach to treat cardiovascular disease and atherosclerosis, which remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and to support the development of a company capable of bringing a major innovative breakthrough to one of the main areas of need in human health.
Cerenis also announced that Jean-Pierre Garnier, former CEO of GlaxoSmithKline and Pierre Fabre Laboratories, will join the Cerenis board as a non-executive director and will be FSI's representative on the board.
More at www.cerenis.com.
The FSI (fonds stratique d'linvestment) is a limited liability company owned 51 percent by Caisse des Depots and 49 percent by the French government. The FSI invests in minority stakes in French companies with projects that create value and industrial competitiveness for the economy.
More at www.fonds-fsi.fr.
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