Mucap et al. in €10m Promethera series-C extension

All three new investors joining are based in Asia – two of them in Tokyo and the other in Seoul.

As a result of the round, Promethera's new and existing VC shareholders will together hold a combined 13% stake in the group. All major existing shareholders reinvested as part of the deal, including Vesalius Biocapital, Société Régionale d'Investissement de Wallonie (SRIW), Fund+, MGI Global Fund (Mitsui & Co), Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and SMS Investments.

The proceeds will be used to expand the company's product range and develop new treatments, in preparation for clinical testing. The new investors' support will also enable Promethera to extend its presence into the Asian market where, according to a company statement, liver-related diseases have proliferated lately and "represent a huge burden for the healthcare system".

Previous funding
Vesalius led a series-A round for Promethera in 2009. Other investors in the round included Capital & Croissance, SRIW, Life Sciences Research Partners, NivelInvest, Vives, Sopartec and LRM.

In 2012, Promethera raised €17m in capital alongside a €6.6m loan supplied by the Walloon region in a series-B round. Investors comprised Sambrinvest, Boehringer Ingelheim, Mitsui, Shire and ATMI, which had then recently been acquired by Pall LifeSciences.

In November 2014, Luxembourg-based venture capital firm Vesalius Biocapital Partners and Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund – the venture arm of German pharmaceutical group Boehringer Ingelheim – led a €20.33m series-C funding round for Promethera. Two new investors joined the round: the Belgian federal holding and investment company SFPI-FPIM, and SMS Investments- a Luxembourg subsidiary of German machinery construction group SMS Group.

Several other existing backers also took part in the round, including SRIW, UK pharma Shire, US filtration and purification company Pall-ATMI LifeSciences, the Vives-Louvain Technology Transfer Office Fund, Mitsui Global Investment (venture capital arm of Japanese industrial conglomerate Mitsui), and a number of business angels. The equity injection was additionally supported by a €5m loan and subsidy package from the Walloon region, bringing the total amount raised in the round to €25.33m.

Company
Founded in 2009 as a spinout of Wallonian Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL), Promethera is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company specialised in cell therapy and regenerative medicine for the treatment of in-born and acquired liver diseases with no effective therapeutic cure. The group has developed three cell products: HepaStem, H2Stem and Heparesc.

Promethera is headquartered in Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium, with an additional US branch and a manufacturing facility in Durham, North Carolina. It employed 44 staff as of 2014.

People
Vesalius Biocapital Partners – Alain Parthoens (partner).
Mitsubishi UFJ Capital – Muneki Handa (president). 
LifeLiver – Ha Young Kim (CEO).

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Early-stage
• Benelux
• Healthcare
• Benelux
• Belgium
• Venture