SCHLIEREN, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GlycoEra AG announced today the close of a CHF 45 million ($49 million) Series A financing round, co-led by renowned US and European life science investors, 5AM Ventures, Roche Venture Fund and Sofinnova Partners. LimmaTech Biologics AG, from which GlycoEra was spun-out, also participated in this round. The proceeds will be used to support the growth of the company and to demonstrate the breadth and value of its CustomGlycan Platform technology in developing assets that can unlock unique biological activities for therapeutic targets in several disease indications.
In conjunction with the financing round, Mira Chaurushiya (5AM Ventures), Monique Schiersing (Roche Venture Fund) and Graziano Seghezzi (Sofinnova Partners) will join the company’s Board of Directors that is comprised of GlycoEra’s co-founders, Veronica Gambillara Fonck and Amir Faridmoayer, as well as biotech advisor and strategist, Ganesh Kaundinya.
“The size and interest for this round and the international investor syndicate we have garnered are a significant validation of the potential of GlycoEra’s CustomGlycan platform,” said Veronica Gambillara Fonck, PhD, CEO and Co-founder of GlycoEra. “This is a major milestone for our company, which has been made possible by the foundational work from our Chief Scientific Officer and Co-founder, Amir Faridmoayer, and the entire GlycoEra team. I look forward to this new stage of our corporate development and to demonstrating the value of our technology in producing therapeutics that previously were not possible.”
Mira Chaurushiya, Partner at 5AM Ventures, said: “We believe GlycoEra’s world-class team has developed a platform that is a step change for the fields of biologics and glycosylation. The platform uniquely enables the translation of glycobiology into meaningful therapeutics via diverse mechanisms and for a wide range of diseases.”
Graziano Seghezzi, Managing Partner at Sofinnova Partners, said: “Backing teams is a core part of the Sofinnova strategy, so we are delighted to be working, once again, with a group of veterans who were instrumental in the success of another Sofinnova portfolio company, GlycoVaxyn. In addition, this is a top-notch investor syndicate with whom we have invested in the past. We have enormous confidence in GlycoEra’s potential to carry its groundbreaking technology forward into multiple therapeutic areas.”
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About GlycoEra AG
GlycoEra’s innovative CustomGlycan platform unlocks the power of glycan-mediated biology to develop a pipeline of novel biologics for a broad range of indications. Founded by a highly experienced team of glycoengineering leaders, the company is based in Schlieren, Switzerland. For further information, please visit www.glycoera.com.
About 5AM Ventures
Founded in 2002, 5AM Ventures is a leading venture capital firm focused on building next-generation life science companies. Based in San Francisco and Boston, 5AM takes a hands-on approach to investing and company building, often going beyond traditional board roles to leverage our diverse team of scientists, clinicians, drug developers and executives throughout a company’s life. With over $2.0 billion raised since inception, 5AM has invested globally in 100 public and private companies. For more information, please visit www.5amventures.com.
About Roche Venture Fund
The Roche Venture Fund invests in early stage biotech and diagnostics companies to develop commercially successful innovative life science companies. Based in Basel, Switzerland with an office in South San Francisco, the Roche Venture Fund invests globally with a portfolio of over 40 companies. For more information, please visit Roche Venture Fund.
About Sofinnova Partners
Sofinnova Partners is a leading European venture capital firm in life sciences, specializing in healthcare and sustainability. Based in Paris, London and Milan, the firm brings together a team of professionals from all over the world with strong scientific, medical and business expertise. Sofinnova Partners is a hands-on company builder across the entire value chain of life sciences investments, from seed to later-stage. The firm actively partners with ambitious entrepreneurs as a lead or cornerstone investor to develop transformative innovations that have the potential to positively impact our collective future.
Founded in 1972, Sofinnova Partners is a deeply-established venture capital firm in Europe, with 50 years of experience backing over 500 companies and creating market leaders around the globe. Today, Sofinnova Partners has over €2.5 billion under management. For more information, please visit: www.sofinnovapartners.com
