Seventure Partners today announces its corporate update for the period May-August 2018.
Paris, France – 5 September 2018 – Seventure Partners, one of Europe’s leaders in financing innovation and a world-leader in the venture investment in the microbiome sector, today announces its corporate update for the period May-August 2018.
“We have seen a tremendous uptick in the number of companies and institutions carrying out research and looking for investment, in the microbiome field over the past decade, with no sign that interest in the area is starting to wane,” said Isabelle de Cremoux, CEO and Managing Partner of Seventure Partners. “We are in a highly exciting period where potential is being recognised, with companies, including a number of our portfolio, currently in clinical trials. We eagerly await the outcomes in this area.”
Figure: Increasing number of clinical trials in the Microbiome field
• Over 1637 Microbiota/microbiome-related trials
• Over 13 diseases for which microbiome-related therapies are being investigated.
Seventure Partners’ News
Seventure saw many positive developments in its portfolio. A key highlight over the summer was the acquisition of portfolio company TxCell S.A. (ENXTPA: TXCL) by Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc (NASDAQ: SGMO).
TxCell is developing regulatory T-cell therapies against autoimmune and inflammatory disorders. In July, it was announced that Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc. a company focused on translating ground-breaking science into genomic therapies that transform patient’s lives using its platform technologies in genome editing, gene therapy and regulation, and cell therapy, had entered into a definitive agreement with TxCell to acquire the Company for €72 million (€2.58 per share in cash). Subject to all conditions being met, it is anticipated that the transaction will be complete by the close of 2018.
Portfolio News – Life Sciences
Acarix (ACARIX:SS), developer of the CADScor® System for Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) risk assessment, announced in May the appointment of Johanne Louise Brændgaard as a member of the board of directors and cardiovascular medtech marketing expert Per Perrsonas as Chief Commercial Officer. The recruitment came as Acarix announced the CADScor® System was launched in key markets.
Corwave, a developer of blood pumps based on a unique and patented wave membrane pumping technology, announced in July that it had received €14 million to develop Corwave Neptune; a new type of cardiac support to improve the management of patients with severe heart failure, as part of the d’Investissements d’Avenir programme, part of Bpifrance.
In June, Maat Pharma, a clinical stage microbiome therapy company, and SATT Lutech announced a licensing agreement under which Maat Pharma will receive worldwide rights for the therapeutic application of allogeneic Fecal Microbiome Transplants (FMT) to treat acute Graft-vs-Host Disease in patients following stem cell transplantation.
In June, Mainstay Medical International plc (Euronext Paris: MSTY.PA and Euronext Dublin: MSTY.IE), a medical device company focused on bringing to market ReActiv8®, an implantable restorative neurostimulation system to treat disabling chronic back pain, announced that it had appointed industry veteran Wolfgang Frisch as Vice President and Managing Director for Germany. In July, the Company announced that it had completed all implants in ReActiv8-B, its US Investigational Device Exemption clinical study.
Mauna Kea Technologies (Euronext:MKEA, OTCQX: MKEA), inventor of Cellvizio®, the multidisciplinary probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy platform, announced in June that data from a prospective multicenter study demonstrated the potential of Cellvizio to aid the diagnosis of acute cellular rejection in lung cancer patients.
In June, Medeye, developers of the MedEye system, a medication safety system powered by artificial intelligence to help nurses to prevent medication errors, announced that the system had checked over a million administrations in the Netherlands, Belgium, Iceland and the UK since its launch in 2016. To date, the system has prevented 100,000 medication errors, including 13,000 related to incorrect dosing.
Mdoloris Medical Systems S.A.S, a connected health company developing non-invasive systems for monitoring and translating parasympathetic nervous system activity to quantify pain or stress in patients, today announces a €9 million financing led by Seventure Partners with the commitment of XAnge, a historical financial partner. The funds will mainly be dedicated to the growth of the Company, allowing Mdoloris to become the global industry leader in pain monitoring.
In June, Nanobiotix (Euronext: NANO ISIN:FR0011341205), a late clinical-stage nanomedicine company pioneering new approaches for the treatment of cancer, announced positive topline results of the Phase II/III act.in.sarc trial evaluating NBTXR3 in soft tissue sarcoma. In May, the Company announced a research collaboration with Weill Cornell Medicine to begin non-clinical studies of NBTXR3’s mechanism of action. NBTXR3 is a first-in-class product designed to destroy, when activated by radiotherapy, tumors and metastasis through physical cell death and to induce immunogenic cell death leading to specific activation of the immune system.
Skinjay, an independent French company founded by Nicolas Pasquier in 2012, which develops and markets easy-to-use in-shower micro-nebulization© devices to deliver ingredients to the skin, announced that it has collaborated with La Roche-Posay. The collaboration will use Skinjay’s encapsulated shower technology to enable consumers to infuse their shower water with La Roche-Posay’s Lipikar Baume, designed to soothe and repair dryness and irritation.
TxCell SA (FR0010127662- TXCL), a developer of cellular immunotherapies based on regulatory TCells for inflammation, autoimmunity and transplantation and Lonza Pharma & Biotech, one of the world’s leading and most-trusted suppliers to pharma, biotech and specialty ingredients markets, announced in June that they had entered into a Master Service Agreement for the manufacture of TxCell’s HLA-A2 CART-reg cellular product TX200 which is in development for the prevention of chronic rejection after organ transplantation. In June, the Company announced proof-of-concept preclinical data showed TX200 showed significant impact on mice survival and skin graft rejection vs. control in relevant GvHD and skin transplant models. Additionally in June, the Company announced it had exercised its exclusive option to in-license the intellectual property rights of its academic partner, the University of British Columbia, onto the HLA-A2 CAR-Treg program. As noted above, the proposed acquisition of TxCell by Sangamo Therapeutics was announced in July.
Vedanta Biosciences, a company developing a new category of therapies for immune-mediated and infectious diseases based on rationally defined consortia of human microbiome-derived bacteria, announced in July that it had received funding from the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to finding cures for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
Events
During the period May-August, Seventure Partners attended a number of events, including Microbiome Invest 2018 in London in May where Isabelle de Cremoux gave the keynote speech Global Microbiome Future Innovation, Partnerships and Trends. In June, Denise Kelly, Venture Partner, spoke at the 7th IHMC International Microbiome Congress in a talk entitled Investing in the Microbiome – a Seventure Perspective.
Isabelle de Cremoux will be speaking at this year’s Bio-Europe, taking place between 5-7 November in Copenhagen and Malmö.
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Notes To Editors
About Seventure Partners
With over €690m in assets under management as of the end of 2017, Seventure Partners is a leading venture capital firm in Europe. Since 1997, Seventure Partners has been investing in innovative businesses with high growth potential in two fields: Digital technologies in France and Germany, and Life sciences across Europe, Israel and North America.
In life sciences, the four areas of focus include biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, digital/connected health and medtech, industrial biotechnology, and last but not least: the MICROBIOME, nutrition, foodtech and personalized medicine. Investments can range between €500k and €10m per round, or up to €20m per company, from early to late stage.
In December 2013, Seventure Partners successfully launched Health for Life Capital™ that invests in lifesciences worldwide, with a core focus on the microbiome revolution and its applications in human health and nutrition. The €160m fund has attracted strategic investments from prestigious organizations including Danone, Tereos, Tornier, Lesaffre, Bel and Novartis, as well as entrepreneurs and financial institutions.
In March 2018, Seventure Partners launched AVF, a new fund dedicated to invest in innovative solutions for animal nutrition, feed and health. Adisseo is one of the first strategic partners of the fund.
For more details: http://www.seventure.fr/en Twitter: @seventurep
Issued for and on behalf of Seventure Partners by Instinctif Partners.
For more information please contact:
At the Company:
Isabelle de Cremoux
CEO and Managing Partner of Seventure Partners
Tel: + 33 1 58 19 22 77
Email: isabelle.decremoux@seventure.
Media enquiries:
In France
Agence Yucatan
Caroline Prince-Albagnac
Tel: +33 1 53 63 27 35
Email: cprince@yucatan.fr
International
Instinctif Partners
Sue Charles / Gemma Harris
Tel: +44 20 7866 7860
Email: seventure@instinctif.com
