Sofinnova Partners leads €16.5m series-A round for Lysogene

The capital will be used to expand clinical trials for Lysogene's treatment for the currently untreatable sanfilippo syndrome. The debilitating disorder is fatal in childhood and affects one in 100,000 births.

Novo Seeds and BPI France's Innobio fund contributed to the round, which will also fund the development of a second Lysogene product targeting deficiencies in the central nervous system.

Sofinnova stated it was attracted to Lysogene given the company's progress over the past five years and by its product's potential for tackling a condition that currently has no treatment options. It had already been involved in seed funding rounds for the biotechnology company.

The VC recently joined a $10m round for portfolio company OpenERP, a Belgian open-source software company, alongside XAnge, SRIW and the management team.

Company
Founded in 2009 and based in Paris, Lysogene is a biotechnology company that focuses on the treatment of neuro-degenerative diseases. Its single dose treatment for the sanfilippo syndrome involves the injection of a functional version of the defective gene, providing the central nervous system with therapeutic protein.

People
Karen Aiach is the CEO and co-founder of Lysogene. Olivier Danos is the company's scientific adviser and co-founder. Rafaèle Tordjman, a managing partner at Sofinnova, will take a seat on the board. Henrijette Richter is an investment director at Novo and will also take a seat on the board.

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