In addition, the company’s existing institutional investors aeris Capital, LSP Life Sciences Partners, Forbion Capital, BioMedInvest, Roche Venture Fund, CD Venture and KfW have contributed a total of EUR 5.6 million to the round on a pro rata basis. Curetis’ management as well as several of the company's founders, private investors and board members also co-invested.
Including the latest Series B financing, Curetis has raised a total of EUR 49.1 million in equity capital to date.
Curetis will use the proceeds for the next phase of commercial and operational growth, including a prospective, multi-center FDA registrational trial with 2,000 patients and the further expansion of the company’s commercial activities and team in Europe.
Curetis anticipates a phase of rapid market adoption in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) where more than 50 top tier hospitals have agreed to install Unyvero™ for local testing. The inclusion of Unyvero™ in an upcoming global Phase IIb trial by Sanofi Pasteur is expected to add further momentum to the market penetration of Unyvero™.
Moreover, the company expects to continue the rapid international expansion of its commercial distribution network across Europe and the Middle East, but also towards Asia, Latin America and, following FDA clearance, to the USA.
Further upcoming milestones include the market launch of a second Unyvero™ cartridge application (ITI) together with Heraeus Medical and clinical data from a global Phase III trial in community-acquired bacterial pneumonia conducted by Cempra Pharmaceuticals.
"We have followed Curetis' progress and development for more than 18 months and have been impressed by the team's track-record of delivering on all key clinical and commercial milestones,” said Dr. Alexander Asam, Investment Advisor at HBM Partners. “We consider Curetis´ Unyvero™ Solution to be a leading, world-class sample-to-answer platform. The solution offers an unrivalled combination of multiplexing pathogens and antibiotic resistance markers, paired with ease-of-use at the point of need and the ability to use any native clinical sample material."
"We are extremely pleased to have won HBM Partners as lead investor for our new round. With HBM joining our syndicate of investors, we are well positioned to continue executing on our clinical and commercial plans,” added Oliver Schacht, CEO of Curetis. “Our syndicate has the breadth, depth and quality as well as financial strength to take Curetis all the way to achieve its strategic corporate objectives and to globally roll out Unyvero™ in the years ahead."
About the Unyvero™ System
The CE-marked Unyvero™ System is a versatile hardware platform for the detection of a broad panel of bacteria and antibiotic resistances from a single sample in one run. It processes a disposable cartridge providing the necessary reagents to complete the analysis from sample to result. The platform enables the DNA-based testing of all clinically relevant samples in a fully automated, unsupervised analysis process requiring only few, quick manual preparation steps. The analysis thus can be performed with minimal operator time and without the need of skilled staff or special infrastructure.
Thereby, clinically relevant information is available within about four hours to support an informed therapy decision as early as possible.
The first CE-marked Unyvero™ Cartridge, Unyvero™ P50, focuses on pneumonia testing and simultaneously analyses 39 DNA targets. The second Unyvero™ application for implant & tissue infections is already in product development. Cartridges for additional indications, such as blood stream infections and tuberculosis, are in preparation.
About Curetis AG
Founded in 2007, Curetis AG is a molecular diagnostics company which focuses on the development and commercialization of reliable, fast and cost-effective products for diagnosing severe infectious diseases. The diagnostic solutions of Curetis AG will enable rapid multiparameter pathogen and antibiotic resistance detection in only a few hours, a process that today can take up to days or even weeks with other techniques.
To date, Curetis has raised total funds of over € 49.1 million (~ USD 64 million). The company is based in Holzgerlingen near Stuttgart, Germany. Curetis has signed collaboration agreements with Heraeus Medical, Sanofi Pasteur and Cempra Inc. as well as several international distribution agreements.
About HBM Partners
HBM Partners is a globally active, healthcare-focused investment management group headquartered in Switzerland. The funds advised by HBM invest in private and public companies across North America, Europe, India and China. Since 2001, HBM has generated more than 40 trade sales and IPOs of pharma/biotech, medtech and diagnostics companies.
More information can be found at: www.hbmpartners.com
Contact
Curetis AG
Max-Eyth-Str. 42
71088 Holzgerlingen, Germany
Tel. +49 (0) 7031 49195-10
pr@curetis.com
www.curetis.com
Media Inquiries
akampion
Dr. Ludger Wess / Ines-Regina Buth
Managing Partners
info@akampion.com
Tel. +49 40 88 16 59 64
Tel. +49 30 23 63 27 68
