PMV backs arGEN-X

PMV is a new investor in arGEN-X. The first closing of the company's series-B round took place in December 2011 and saw Omnes Capital, Forbion Capital Partners, BioGeneration Ventures, the Erasmus Biomedical Fund, Thuja Capital, OrbiMed Advisors, Seventure Partners, Life Sciences Partners (LSP) and VIB invest in the company. OrbiMed and Seventure led the €27.5m first close of the round.

Total proceeds from the series-B round will continue to be used by arGEN-X to push its ARGX-113 product towards clinical development.

PMV invested in the company alongside Vlaams Innovatiefonds (Vinnof), a seed and early-stage fund that invests in companies based in the Flemish region of Belgium. Vinnof is managed by PMV.

PMV was attracted to the company because of its position in the Flemish biotech ecosystem, as well as its efficiency of product development.

Previous funding
Prior to the first part of arGEN-X's series-B in December 2011, the company raised a total of €12.5m in a two-part series-A round. In September 2009, the company secured €9.5m from Forbion, LSP, KBC Private Equity, BioGeneration, Erasmus and Thuja. Forbion and LSP led the round.

The following April, arGEN-X received a further €3m in an extension of its series-A from Omnes and VIB.

Company
Founded in 2008, arGEN-X is headquartered in Breda, the Netherlands, with an additional office in Ghent, Belgium. The company develops human therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of diseases including cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and atopic dermatitis.

The company's ARGX-113 programme is designed to encourage degradation and clearance of the auto-antibodies that cause disease, using the company's ABDEG technology to do so. According to arGEN-X, ARGX-113 can be used for most autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, myasthenia gravis and Kawasaki syndrome.

People
Tim Van Hauwermeiren is the CEO of arGEN-X. The company's board of directors includes Forbion partner Christina Takke; LSP partner John de Koning; Bruno Montanari, a director of Omnes's life sciences venture capital team; Thuja managing director Harrold van Barlingen; and OrbiMed general partner Michael Sheffery. Chris de Jonghe is the group manager of venture capital at PMV.

Advisers
Equity – De Breij Evers Boon (Legal).

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• Topics
• Benelux
• Early-stage
• Healthcare
• Netherlands