French Startup Inotrem Bags $25 Million To Develop Sepsis Drugs
Inotrem Raises EUR18 Million To Develop Innovative Sepsis Treatments In A Series A Financing Co-Led By Edmond De Rothschild Investment Partners And Sofinnova Partners
Paris and Nancy, France, March 13 2014 - Inotrem S.A., a French biotech company specialized in the control of immune reaction in acute inflammatory diseases, announced today the completion of its Series A financing round. With a total of EUR18 million, this round is the largest Series A round in Europe this year. The round was co-led by leading international life science venture capitalists Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners and Sofinnova Partners. Switzerland-based Biomed Invest and the French seed investment firm Inserm Transfert Initiative also participated in the round. Gilles Nobécourt of Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners and Graziano Seghezzi of Sofinnova Partners have joined the Supervisory Board of Inotrem.
Based on the pioneering research work of Prof. Sebastien Gibot, professor of Critical Care Medicine at the University of Lorraine Medical School in Nancy; and Dr. Marc Derive, co-founder and CSO of Inotrem, the company has built a strong expertise around TREM-1, a pathway functioning as an amplifier of the immune response cycle. TREM-1 is particularly up-regulated in patients suffering from sepsis, an acute and severe infectious and inflammatory syndrome which can lead to multiple organ failure and death. Sepsis has an increasing incidence worldwide, affecting up to 1% of the population annually with a mortality rate of 50%, placing sepsis as the 10th leading cause of death in developed countries. There are currently no specific mechanistically targeted therapies approved for this indication besides antibiotics and symptomatic agents.
Inotrem is developing an inhibitor of TREM-1 that has shown promising activity in a very broad series of sepsis animal models. The company is also working on a biomarker strategy to deliver a personalized healthcare solution with the aim to identify patients who would most likely benefit from the treatment.
This Series A round will support development of Inotrem's lead product through late stage preclinical and early clinical trials in sepsis, plus the characterization of its therapeutic potential in other inflammatory diseases.
Dr Jean-Jaques Garaud, CEO of Inotrem and formerly Head of Research and Early Development at Roche, commented: 'Our primary objective is to deliver to the medical community novel treatments to help fight the dire consequences of severe infections. Inotrem is developing one of the most promising approaches to tackle such a devastating condition. We are very proud and blessed to have now been recognized with the support of such a strong investor syndicate.'
For further information please contact
Inotrem
Dr. Jean-Jacques Garaud
+41 79 412 2897
jjg@inotrem.com
For media inquiries:
MC Services AG
Raimund Gabriel
+49 89 210 228-30
raimund.gabriel@mc-services.eu
About Inotrem
Created in 2013 by Prof. Sebastien Gibot, Dr. Marc Derive and Dr. Jean-Jacques Garaud, Inotrem is a French biotech company specializing in the discovery and development of novel treatments in the field of inflammatory pathologies with a focus on critical care. The Company's leading product candidate is a TREM-1 inhibitor that aims to control excessive inflammation in severe sepsis patients. Since its inception Inotrem has received the initial support of the Incubateur Lorrain and the University of Lorraine in Nancy, Région Lorraine, BPI France and Inserm Transfert.
About Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners
Paris-based Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners is the private equity affiliate of the Edmond de Rothschild Group, which is specialized in asset management and private banking. Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners is dedicated to minority investments into privately-owned companies. It has currently close to EUR1 billion under management which is being invested primarily as life sciences venture capital and growth capital. Its Life Sciences Team of eight professionals brings together over 60 years of experience in the Life Science industry and more than 100 years of private equity and venture capital experience. The team has raised over EUR450 million through its Biodiscovery franchise and is currently investing BioDiscovery 4. For more information please visit: www.edrip.fr
About Sofinnova Partners
Sofinnova Partners is an independent venture capital firm based in Paris, France. For 40 years, the firm has backed nearly 500 companies at different stages of their development - pure creations, spin-offs, as well as turnaround situations - and worked alongside Europe's key entrepreneurs in the Life Sciences industry. With EUR1.3 billion of funds under management, Sofinnova Partners has created market leaders with its experienced team and hands-on approach in building portfolio companies through to exit. For more information please visit: www.sofinnova.fr
About Biomed Invest
BioMedPartners AG is an independent healthcare-dedicated investment firm based in Basel, Switzerland, that provides private equity and mezzanine financing to private early- to mid-stage healthcare and life science companies in Switzerland and neighboring regions (Alpine Rim). BioMedPartners have invested in over 40 companies. BioMedPartners currently invest out of their BioMedInvest II LP fund, which has a size of CHF 106 million, and was closed in 2009. For more information please visit: www.biomedvc.com
About Inserm Transfert Initiative
Inserm Transfert Initiative is a life sciences seed investment firm based in Paris, France, linked to the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm). Inserm Transfert Initiative focuses its investments in companies coming from public research laboratories. Inserm Transfert Initiative managed EUR39M and is supported by Inserm, BPI France (through the FNA funds), top tiers pharmaceutical companies and an insurance company. Inserm Transfert Initiative has invested in over 20 companies since 2001. For more information please visit: www.inserm-transfert.fr
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