ArchiMed invests in Xpress Biologics

Xpress Biologics' founders, Christian Rodriguez, Philippe Ledent and Marc Daukandt, are to reinvest their proceeds from the deal alongside ArchiMed. Public investment fund Noshaq, which focuses on companies in the province of Liège in Belgium, will also reinvest.

Carola Jüste, who previously held executive roles at Pepscan and Octapharma, has joined the company as chief executive. Jürgen Pohle has joined Xpress Biologics' board as chairman from his role as CEO of Neovii Pharmaceuticals. Rémi Gloekler will also join the board, having previously held the role of executive vice-president of quality assurance and pharmaceutical operations at Transgene.

The GP's previous investments in gene and cell therapies include Polyplus, which earned the firm more than 70x money on exit.

ArchiMed is deploying equity via its EUR 315m Med II fund. The vehicle deploys equity tickets of EUR 5m-50m and continues ArchiMed's healthcare buyout strategy. The fund held a final close in September 2017 and the investment in Xpress Biologics marks one of the final deals from the vehicle.

The GP held a final close for its Med III fund in August 2021 on EUR 650m, surpassing its EUR 500m target. The fund expects to make 12-14 investments in total and deploys tickets of EUR 5m-30m, acquiring majority stakes in European and North American small-cap healthcare businesses.

The GP said in a statement that its 2014-vintage, EUR 146m debut fund has distributed returns of more than 4x invested capital to its LPs and has achieved total returns of 6x its invested capital.

Company
Xpress Biologics develops plasmid DNA and proteins such as recombinant proteins, antibody fragments and conjugated proteins for use in gene cell therapeutics, as well as mRNA-based vaccines. Treatments include genetic disorders such as spinal muscular atrophy, as well as diseases caused by viral infection. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Milmort in Belgium.

People
ArchiMed – Loïc Kubitza (partner); Denis Ribon (chairman).
Xpress Biologica – Christian Rodriguez, Philippe Ledent, Marc Daukandt (founders); Carola Jüste (chief executive).

Advisers
Equity – Astrea, Steven De Schrijver (legal); Mazars (financial due diligence); Larka (commercial due diligence); McKinsey (commercial due diligence); Laporte-Euro (technology due diligence); EGYP (IP due diligence); Alcedo (IP due diligence).

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