Leiden, 29 August 2011 -- to-BBB, the Dutch brain drug delivery company, is proudly announcing Fredrik Lonnqvist as the company’s Chief Medical Officer and the closing of a €1.8M additional Series-B equity financing from informal investors.
Now that to-BBB has entered the clinic with its brain cancer lead product 2B3-101, Fredrik Lonnqvist, MD, PhD, joins to-BBB as Chief Medical Officer (CMO). Fredrik has gained extensive experience as clinical investigator and associate Professor at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. Subsequently, he has worked in senior clinical leadership roles at SmithKlineBeecham, Biovitrum, Danone and as independent consultant. Over his 15 years in the Life Science industry Fredrik has gained a broad experience in research, clinical development, translational medicine and business development in several therapeutic areas including Central Nervous System (CNS) diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy. “Considering the potential of to-BBB’s G-Technology® for brain drug delivery, I am excited to join the company and further accelerate the development of novel more efficient therapies for patients suffering from severe CNS diseases.” says Fredrik Lonnqvist.
to-BBB is also pleased to announce that a consortium of informal investors has decided to invest €1.8M in an additional series-B closing to further strengthen to-BBB’s financial basis and to accelerate value generation. This investment follows a recent €4M series-B first close in January 2011. Next to its financial support, this group of high profile individuals brings a large amount of entrepreneurial and business experience. The consortium will be represented on to-BBB’s Supervisory Board by Mr. Henk Brulleman, CFA. Henk recently retired as partner at Numeric Investors LLC. Prior to Numeric he was deputy CIO at Shell Pensioenfonds Beheer (now SAMCo). Henk Brulleman says: “I look forward to join to-BBB’s Board and to contribute to to-BBB’s strategy to realize the enormous potential of the CNS market”
Willem van Weperen, CEO of to-BBB, is proud to have Fredrik Lonnqvist and Henk Brulleman on board. “The to-BBB team is now optimally equipped to build a leading company in the field of brain drug delivery with the aim to develop important therapies for patients with brain diseases.”
About to-BBB
to BBB is a clinical stage biotechnology company focusing on enhanced drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier. The Company is developing novel treatments for devastating brain disorders, such as brain cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and lysosomal storage diseases, by combining existing drugs with the G Technology®, to BBB’s proprietary brain delivery platform. This technology combines the widely used drug delivery approach of pegylated liposomes with the endogenous tripeptide glutathione as targeting ligand in a novel and safe way. Together with several top tier pharma and biotech companies, to BBB is investigating the versatility of the G Technology® for drugs that are unable to reach the brain within a tolerable therapeutic window. to BBB is applying the G Technology® for the delivery of doxorubicin for the treatment of brain cancer as its internal lead product 2B3 101.
to-BBB is headquartered in The Netherlands at the Leiden Bio Science Park and established a fully owned subsidiary, to-BBB Taiwan Ltd., in Taipei, Taiwan. Investors in to-BBB include Aescap Venture, Antea Participaties, Jonghoud International, the Industrial Bank of Taiwan Management Corporation (IBTM) and a consortium of informal investors.
to-BBB Contacts
Willem van Weperen, MSc, MBA
Chief Executive Officer
to-BBB technologies BV
Tel: +31 71 3322252
Tel: +31 634054812
E-mail: vanweperen@toBBB.com
Pieter Gaillard, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer
to-BBB technologies BV
Tel: +31 71 3322251
Tel: +31 621525000
E-mail:gaillard@toBBB.com
to-BBB technologies BV
Niels Bohrweg 11, 2333 CA Leiden
BioScience Park Leiden
Bio Partner Center II
The Netherlands
www.toBBB.com