SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nitrome Biosciences (Nitrome), a privately-held biopharmaceutical company developing a platform around a newly identified class of enzymes to target Parkinson’s disease and other age-related disorders, today announced that it has closed a Series A financing of $38 million co-led by Sofinnova Partners, a leading European life sciences venture capital firm, and AbbVie Ventures, AbbVie’s corporate strategic venture capital arm, with further participation from the Dementia Discovery Fund, Mission Bay Capital and Alexandria Venture Investments. Henrijette Richter, Ph.D., Managing Partner of Sofinnova Partners, Margarita Chavez, Managing Director of AbbVie Ventures and Jonathan Behr, Ph.D., Partner of the Dementia Discovery Fund, will join Nitrome’s Board of Directors.
The financing is intended to support the advancement of Nitrome’s lead program targeting Parkinson’s Disease toward human clinical proof of concept studies and to explore the application of the company’s platform technology in other age-related disorders.
“This financing will enable Nitrome to advance our mission of impacting the lives of patients with neurodegenerative and other age-related diseases,”said Dr. Irene Griswold-Prenner, Ph.D., Founder, CEO and CSO of Nitrome. “We are thrilled to have the support of this world-class group of life science investors led by Sofinnova Partners and AbbVie Ventures, who bring their invaluable strategic counsel and deep expertise to the Nitrome team.”
“Nitrome’s breakthrough science is paving the way for novel, disease-modifying therapies,” said Sofinnova Partners’ Dr. Richter. “Dr. Griswold-Prenner is a serial entrepreneur who has extensive experience in drug discovery and development. Nitrome’s team is made up of highly-respected neuroscientists accomplished in drug discovery. The company is well-positioned to potentially transform the lives of Parkinson’s patients and others who suffer from age-related diseases.”
Nitrome has been widely recognized, and has won multiple awards including the prestigious Target Advancement grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF). Nitrome was also awarded the 2018 AbbVie Golden Ticket, and allocated lab space at the San Francisco incubator MBC BioLabs. Nitrome subsequently won three additional Golden Tickets from MBC BioLabs’ partners.
About Nitrome Biosciences
Nitrome Biosciences is a platform company developing drugs against a newly identified class of enzymes called Nitrases, initially targeting Parkinson’s disease. The therapies that Nitrome is developing will target these enzymes and potentially help slow or halt the progression of diseases such as Parkinson’s. While the initial focus is on Parkinson's disease, the company aims to expand its proprietary platform to include other disease indications. Nitrome has been widely recognized, and has won multiple awards including the prestigious Target Advancement grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF). For more information, please visit our website at www.nitromebiosciences.com.
About Sofinnova Partners
Sofinnova Partners is a leading European venture capital firm specialized in Life Sciences. Based in Paris, France, with offices in London and Milan, the firm brings together a team of 40 professionals from all over Europe, the U.S. and Asia. The firm focuses on paradigm-shifting technologies alongside visionary entrepreneurs. Sofinnova Partners invests across the Life Sciences value chain as a lead or cornerstone investor, from very early-stage opportunities to late-stage/public companies. It has backed nearly 500 companies over more than 48 years, creating market leaders around the globe. Today, Sofinnova Partners has over €2 billion under management.
For more information, please visit: www.sofinnovapartners.com
About AbbVie Ventures
AbbVie Ventures is the corporate venture capital group of AbbVie. We are a strategic investor, investing exclusively in novel, potentially transformational science aligned with AbbVie’s core R&D interests. We measure success primarily by the extent to which our investments foster innovation with potential to transform the lives of patients that AbbVie serves. AbbVie Ventures enables its portfolio companies with both funding as well as access to AbbVie’s internal network of experts across all phases of drug development, from drug discovery through commercialization.
For more information, please visit: www.abbvie.com/ventures
About the Dementia Discovery Fund (DDF)
The DDF is a venture capital fund focused on funding the discovery and development of novel disease-modifying therapies for dementia patients, including those with Alzheimer’s disease. Established in 2015, the fund has raised 250 million pounds from an influential group of strategic investors committed to developing urgently needed new treatments that could alter the course of disease and help combat the growing global burden of dementia.
The fund, the first-of-its-kind to combine government, industry, private sector and charity backing, is advised by SV Health Investors with investments from leading pharmaceutical companies (Biogen, Eli Lilly and Co., GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Otsuka (Astex), Pfizer and Takeda), AARP, Aegon, Bill Gates, British Patient Capital, NFL Players Association, Quest Diagnostics, UnitedHealth Group, the UK’s Department of Health and Social Care, and the charity Alzheimer’s Research UK. www.theddfund.com
About Mission Bay Capital
Mission Bay Capital is an early-stage venture fund dedicated to helping entrepreneurial scientist create successful companies. We do this because we believe that startups are the most efficient engine for positive change. Their passion and purpose turn ideas into solutions. We help with space and capital. Our co-working laboratories, MBC BioLabs, provide state-of-the-art facilities that allow startups to do experiments on their first day. www.missionbaycapital.com
