Hasselt, Belgium – June 3rd, 2010 - Complix NV, a recently founded biopharmaceutical company, announced the successful closing of its Series A financing round, raising € 5 million (~US$ 6.25 million) from a syndicate of leading life sciences investors. The transaction was co-led by Vesalius Biocapital (Luxembourg) and LRM (Belgium), with CRP Santé (Luxembourg), existing investors and management also participating. Complix is focused on the discovery and development of next generation drugs based on “Alphabodies”, a novel class of biopharmaceuticals with superior therapeutic potential. Complix also announced the creation of a fully-owned subsidiary in Luxembourg to develop novel Alphabody™ based therapies against viral diseases in a strategic collaboration with CRP-Santé (Centre de Recherche Public de la Santé).
This Series A financing will allow Complix to start developing a portfolio of therapeutic products based on its proprietary Alphabody™ platform. Alphabodies™, discovered by the scientific founders of Complix, represent a novel class of small, single-chain therapeutic proteins (10-15 times smaller than antibodies) and can bind with high affinity to a wide range of disease targets. Due to their unique structure, Alphabodies™ can address certain types of targets that are not easily accessible by antibodies or other types of protein drugs. Alphabodies™ are extremely stable as compared to other biopharmaceuticals, which means they can also be applied through alternative, non-injectable routes of administration. Complix´s initial R&D focus is on the development of novel therapies for autoimmunity and infectious diseases.
Dr. Mark Vaeck, who joined the company as CEO, brings considerable experience in the start-up and growth of biotech companies in Europe and the USA. He has previously been co-founder and CEO of other biopharmaceutical companies, including ActoGeniX and Ablynx (Ghent, Belgium), and has raised over €70 million in venture financing during the past 10 years.
Dr. Ignace Lasters, founding CEO of Complix, will assume the role of CSO. He has a successful track record of more than two decades of innovative research in the biotech industry (at PGS, now Bayer; Corvas, now Dendreon; Algonomics, now Lonza), with a focus on protein engineering technology to improve therapeutic proteins and antibodies.
Commenting on this financing,
Mark Vaeck states: “I am extremely pleased with the successful completion of this financing, which provides Complix with substantial start-up capital and a long term commitment from a syndicate of knowledgeable biotech investors. These funds will allow Complix to start building a promising product pipeline and to advance our first Alphabody™ therapeutics for autoimmune and viral diseases towards clinical proof-of-concept.”
Dr. Gaston Matthyssens, Managing Partner of Vesalius Biocapital adds: “We have been impressed by the significant potential of the Alphabody™ platform, the sound business plan and the quality of the founding team. Complix represents a clear example of the kind of investment opportunities Vesalius Biocapital is looking for: a young emerging company with the potential to become a world-class biopharmaceutical company developing next generation therapies for severe diseases with unmet medical need.”
“We identified Complix as an exciting investment opportunity based on excellent science, an innovative and broadly applicable technology platform, and a management team with a proven track record in the biopharma industry”’ says
Nico Vandervelpen, Head of Life Sciences LRM. “We expect that Complix will elicit substantial interest from pharmaceutical companies seeking novel drug development approaches that provide a competitive alternative to antibodies.”
Dr. Jean-Claude Smit, CEO of CRP Santé comments: “We are excited to participate in this financing round, which solidifies our strategic collaboration with Complix. By combining the Alphabody™ platform with our research expertise in the field of virology, we expect to discover promising novel medicines for patients in desperate need for new treatment options.”
About Complix
Complix is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel therapeutics based on its proprietary Alphabody™ platform. Alphabodies™ represent a novel class of biopharmaceuticals that offer significant competitive advantages over existing protein based therapies. Alphabodies™ can bind with high affinity to a wide range of disease targets, and can address certain target types that are not easily accessible by antibodies or other protein scaffolds. Alphabodies™ are extremely stable as compared to other biopharmaceuticals, and can be applied via alternative, non-injectable routes of administration. Complix´s initial R&D focus is on the development of novel Alphabody™ based therapies for autoimmunity and infectious diseases. In its lead programs Complix is developing selective antagonists of the inflammation pathway and long-acting anti-virals. Through the filing of several broad patent applications Complix has established a strong intellectual property position on the Alphabody™ technology. Because the Alphabody™ structure is totally unrelated to immunoglobulins Alphabodies™ are independent of antibody based patent claims.
Complix has been created in 2008 with seed capital from Gemma Frisius Fund, Baekeland Fund, Vinnof and Trustcapital. The Company is headquartered in Hasselt (Belgium) at the Life Sciences incubator BioVille, and has research facilities in Ghent (Belgium) and in Luxembourg. Complix has established a fully owned subsidiary in Luxembourg, which is focused on the discovery of novel anti-viral therapeutics, and has a strategic alliance with the public research institute CRP-Santé.
www.complix.com
About Vesalius Biocapital
Vesalius Biocapital S.A. SICAR is a Luxembourg venture capital fund focusing on the creation and growth of European non-quoted life science companies. The Fund invests in those areas that have highest profit potential: new therapeutics, cutting-edge medical devices, innovative drug delivery technologies as well as molecular diagnostics and screening tests with a high utility level.
Vesalius Biocapital S.A. SICAR aims to build an investment portfolio with an adequate balance between early- and later-stage product developments and for which short- and mid-term value creation opportunities have been clearly identified. The Fund’s profile will be dynamically adjusted within its strategy to mitigate inherent potential risks of the portfolio. The Fund’s primary geographic focus includes the Benelux countries, Germany, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, areas in which Vesalius has established unique formal links with leading universities and research institutions.
The Fund has aligned a strong investment team composed of Dr. Gaston Matthyssens, Alain Parthoens, Dr. Christian Schneider and Stéphane Verdood. They bring their extensive financial and managerial experience, gained through previous assignments with ING Corporate Investments, PolyTechnos Venture Partners and the consulting and venture coaching firm Value for Growth. The expertise of the team ranges from extensive investment expertise to operational experience in general management, business development, product development, IP and finance of start-ups and more mature life sciences companies. Furthermore, individual team members have in-depth technical insights and competitive scouting experience in the biotechnology sector.
www.vesaliusbiocapital.com
About LRM
LRM is a profit-driven investor that offers entrepreneurs a unique combination of venture capital and real estate. Oxygen for growth! LRM is a generalist, but has acquired a specific expertise and uses dedicated funds in ICT, Life Sciences and Cleantech.
LRM's activities contribute to the economic development and the general employment in Limburg province.
They are oriented towards all sectors and companies, from start-ups to growing SMEs to major businesses. Today, LRM is active in five domains: ICT & Media, Life Sciences, Cleantech & Energy, SMEs & Major Businesses. The Life Sciences franchise is managed by Nico Vandervelpen, Debora Dumont and Kris Motmans.
www.lrm.be/lifesciences
About Centre de Recherche Public de la Santé (CRP-Santé)
CRP-Santé employs 200 researchers and 50 support staff, working on more than hundred research projects which have resulted in 98 peer-reviewed publications in 2009. Its steadily increasing annual budget is currently around 35 million Euro.
CRP-Santé actively collaborates with multiple international institutions, including with the TGen Foundation in Phoenix, Arizona (
www.tgen.org ) and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington (
www.fhcrc.org ).
CRP-Santé is a young research organisation with highly qualified personnel working in multidisciplinary teams with strong integration of laboratory, clinical and public health research. CRP-Santé’s research focus is on health topics with high impact on the European and global population. The research units have state-of-the-art equipment in emerging fields of biomedical research and increasingly develop a market oriented approach aiming at commercial and clinical valorisation.
www.crp-sante.lu
For further information please contact
Complix NV
Dr. Mark Vaeck, CEO
BioVille
Agoralaan building A-bis
3590 Diepenbeek
Belgium
Tel. +32 9 241 57 15
info@complix.com