Amersfoort, The Netherlands, 10th December 2009 - Medisse, a Dutch biomaterials company, is active in resorbable implants for soft tissue applications, based on a patented flexible polymer platform. The financing will allow Medisse to speed up the development and global commercialization of its FlexiSurge Mesh and FlexiSurge Barrier, an anti adhesion barrier.
Sandra de Vos, CEO of Medisse commented: “We are very pleased to have two investors on board that give us the opportunity to bring the company to the next level. The growing use of resorbable materials for soft tissue applications has created exciting opportunities for Medisse. We expect to complete the development of our first products, FlexiSurge Mesh and FlexiSurge Barrier, and bring these products to the market. FlexiSurge products are highly flexible and they resorb via surface erosion, resulting in unique material properties that are very useful in many soft tissue medical devices. Proceeds will also be used for developing other devices using the FlexiSurge material”.
“We are pleased to invest in another spin off from the biomedical technology and technical medicine institute (MIRA) from the University of Twente” says Wil Hazenberg, partner at BioGeneration Ventures. “The investment will yield significant advances in the development of the company in the coming 12 months“.
“We consider this investment as an interesting opportunity in an early stage company that has developed original approaches in polymer development” says Emmanuelle Coutanceau, associate at Crédit Agricole Private Equity. “We are pleased to support the company in its next step of development”.
The investment was led by BioGeneration Ventures and Wil Hazenberg will join the company’s board of directors. Crédit Agricole Private Equity will be represented by Emmanuelle Coutanceau.
About Medisse
Medisse was established in 2009 and develops resorbable implants based on a flexible material. The properties of this material are enhanced by gamma sterilization, which at the same time, is used for sterilization. The company’s unique technology was developed by Twente University in Enschede. First activities to develop this technology were done with the help of BioPartner’s First Stage Grant. Medisse is based in Amersfoort and Enschede, the Netherlands. For further information; www.medisse.com
About BioGeneration Ventures
BioGeneration Ventures invests in seed and early stage Dutch Life Sciences companies. The team of BioGeneration is specialized in creating value from novel and innovative technologies and the management of start-up companies. BioGeneration Ventures was co-founded by the Netherlands Genomics Initiative (NGI), NWO, the University of Leiden and ABN-AMRO. BioGeneration closely cooperates with Forbion Capital Partners; www.biogenerationventures.com
About Crédit Agricole Private Equity
Crédit Agricole Private Equity is an AMF-accredited asset-management subsidiary of Crédit Agricole S.A., specialising in direct private-equity investment in non-listed companies. A multi-specialist player in the private-equity market, it has a team of 95 professionals operating in a variety of areas (LBO & Expansion, Venture Capital, Mezzanine, Co-Investment, Renewable Energy, PPP Infrastructure), and manages €2.8 billion in a variety of private-equity vehicles (FCPRs, SICARs, FCPIs and SCRs). The 12-strong venture capital team manages €400 million through FCPIs, and Crédit Agricole Private Equity’s portfolio currently includes a number of cutting-edge medical device and biotechnology companies such as Metabolic Explorer, Cytheris, SuperSonic Imagine, CircuLite, Stentys, EyeTechCare, Spineguard, PanGenetics; www.ca-privateequity.com
