Munich and Basel, March 19, 2007 – Life Sciences Partners III, BiomedInvest AG and Novartis Venture Fund have today announced the closing of a €7.2 million Series A round of Okairos AG, a newly established bio-pharmaceutical company in Basel, Switzerland.
Okairos is a bio-pharmaceutical start up in the field of genetic T-cell vaccines, with operations in Rome and Naples, Italy. Okairos will use its adenovirus-based technology licensed from Merck, to develop treatments for infectious diseases where conventional approaches have failed. Its main founder and new CEO, Prof Riccardo Cortese, was, until recently, the President and Managing Director of IRBM (Istituto di Ricerche di Biologia Molecolare), a 250 FTE research institute in Rome, Italy, fully owned by Merck Inc. Prof Cortese is a thought leader in the field of anti-viral therapies and has made ground-breaking contributions to this field during the past decade at IRBM. Dr Alfredo Nicosia, also a major founder and the CSO of Okairos, is the former Head of Biologics at IRBM where he was most recently responsible for the development of a genetic vaccine against HCV.
Prof Cortese, who will join the Board of Directors of Okairos, is delighted about the start of operations: “The other founders and I have been working very hard for this moment and it is with great satisfaction that we see the commitment and support of such a group of experienced and specialized investors. This funding, along with significant amounts of grants we have secured, will allow us to demonstrate proof of concept for our very promising technology in several indications.”
Dr Joachim Rothe, General Partner at LSP, and a member of Okairos´s Board of Directors, is enthusiastic about the prospects
of the company: “From day 1, Okairos will establish itself as a serious contender in genetic vaccines. The mix of highly experienced
professionals with a technology capable of addressing true unmet medical needs makes this opportunity unique. We are extremely excited to be able to work with Okairos”.
Dr Markus Hosang, General Partner at BiomedInvest and a member of Okairos´s Board of Directors, agrees: “Vaccines for therapeutic purposes become increasingly important, especially with regard to certain up to now difficult to address diseases such as hepatitis C. The technology platform being developed by Okairos has the clear potential to make a difference in those diseases. We very much look forward to work with the Company and the other investors towards this goal.”
Florent Gros, Managing Director at Novartis Venture Fund, and formerly director of the Aventis-Pasteur patent department in France, believes strongly in the need to speed up vaccine discoveries and in the potentials of the Okairos’ technology platform over many other technology alternatives. “We are thrilled to support a group of experienced scientists to develop breakthrough vaccinations to unmet medical needs.”
About LSP
LSP (Life Sciences Partners) is a leading independent European venture capital firm, providing private equity financing to early- to mid-stage life-science companies. Since the late 1980s, LSP’s management has invested in a large number of highly innovative enterprises, many of which have grown to become leaders of the global life-science industry. For example, LSP was a founding investor in Crucell, DNage, Bioxell, Rhein Biotech and Pharming. With more than EUR 400 million under management and offices in Amsterdam, Munich and Boston, LSP is one of Europe’s largest and most experienced specialist life-science investors. For more information about the LSP Group, please visit the website at www.lspvc.com.
About BiomedInvest
BioMedInvest is a leading independent European venture capital firm, providing private equity and mezzanine financing to early- to mid-stage healthcare and life-science companies. Since 2003, BioMedInvest has invested in nearly 20 highly innovative enterprises four of which have already successfully completed their IPO (Arpida AG, Santhera Pharmaceuticals AG) or have been acquired by or merged with leading companies in the industry (Glycart Biotechnology AG, Carex Ltd). With more than CHF 150 million in capital under management and a strong team of experienced specialists with broad expertise and extensive scientific and financial networks, BioMedInvest has established itself as one of the leading early-stage healthcare investors in Europe. For additional information please visit: www.biomedvc.com
About the Novartis Venture Fund
Novartis Venture fund (NVF) has become the largest corporate biotech venture fund with more than USD 500 million in capital under management, and currently 60 companies in its portfolio, with offices in Basel and Boston. For example, NVF was a key investor in Infinity, Kudos, Syrrx, GylcArt, Idenix, Transform and Cytos. For more information about NVF, please visit the website at www.venturefund.novartis.com
For further information please contact: Dr Joachim Rothe, General Partner Tel: +49 89 330666 0 Email: jrothe@lspvc.com
