New Science Ventures et al. in €28m series-A for Novadip

New York-headquartered New Science specialises in early-, mid- and late-stage investments in life sciences and information technology companies.

The firm was joined by VC Vives Louvain Technology Fund, which invested via its second fund. Additional backers include NivelInvest, Fund+, Société Régionale d'Investissement de Wallonie (SRIW), Epimede, insurer Integrale, Belgian state-owned holding SFPI-FPIM and a number of non-institutional investors.

The €28m injection was compounded by an additional €2m repayable advance supplied by Belgium's Walloon region.

According to Novadip, proceeds will be dedicated to clinical trials and industrial production of its flagship therapy Creost, a three-dimensional, stem-cell-fashioned compound used to reconstruct bone tissue for post-surgery patients.

The biotech firm intends to target complex lumbar spine fusion with its product, a condition estimated to afflict a global 100,000 patients every year.

The early-stage round is the largest to be recorded by unquote" in Benelux so far this year. Meanwhile, the region was recently home to another large-scale investment in a biotech company, albeit at a later business stage: the €72.8m series-C for Dutch cancer therapy developer Merus led by Sofinnova Ventures and Novo Ventures.

Company
Headquartered in Louvain, Novadip was founded in 2013 as a spinout from the city's university and Saint-Luc University Hospital. The company develops stem-cell-based, tissue-regenerating therapies intended to fight bone-related defects and conditions. The biotech's core product is Creost, an implant made from adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells.

People
Somu Subramaniam, managing partner at New Science, led the deal on behalf of the VC. Meanwhile, Vives was represented by CEO Philippe Durieux. Jean-François Pollet and Denis Dufrane co-founded Novadip and are the company's current CEO and CSO, respectively.

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