Deal in focus: MIG backs Ganymed in €45m series-E

In the GP's latest commitment to the Mainz-based company, MIG invested via its MIG Fond 6, 12 and 13 vehicles, which bought 14,575 newly created shares for around €2m, equating to a 1.08% stake in the company. MIG also acquired 3,644 shares for €501,778 via its MIG Fond 12 fund, which amounted to a 0.27% stake.

The fresh capital will be used to accelerate the clinical development of Ganymed's lead gastroesophageal cancer antibody IMAB362 and to clinically validate its predictive companion diagnostic test. Furthermore, the equity will fund the phase-I and phase-II clinical studies of IMAB027, an antibody for testicular, ovarian, uterine and lung cancers.

"We've been invested in the company for six years now. When investing in life sciences, the GP has to have sufficient stamina to commit to the firm for a very long period," says MIG managing director Matthias Kromayer (pictured).

Ganymed is indeed not a newcomer when it comes to external funding. In 2002, the company received a €8.85m capital injection from Nextech Invest, Süd Venture Capital Investition, Future Capital and Venture Incubator, according to unquote" data. Three years later, the firm raised €12.7m from existing investors.

In June 2007, MIG backed Ganymed for the first time, taking part in a €37.2m series-C financing round, alongside Nextech Venture, Future Capital, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, ONC Partners and Varuma. Because the round was oversubscribed, it held a second close in October, with ATS contributing €3.5m. Ganymed then raised a further €65m in 2008, when ATS led a financing round that also saw Future Capital and MIG.

Deals of the size of this latest round are rare in the DACH region's biotechnology sector: a total of 15 early-stage deals took place in the sector so far this year, totalling €154.93m. "There's currently too little capital available on the life sciences market in Germany," says Kromayer. "This is because international investors have moved away from Europe in the last few years, leaving general partners to pick up companies on our own for quite a discount. As good as it sounds, if we have to finance the firms on our own, financing rounds for the firms will be smaller.

"I hope the lack of capital in Europe is due to change soon, one indicator for this is the high number of successful life science IPOs in the US. This success has increased the capital commitments demanded from VCs, and what we can hope for now is US investors coming to Europe in order to cheaply invest in companies."

Ganymed was founded 12 years ago as a university spinout. Kromayer sees the VCs considering a range of options for the company's future: "Europe is not an ideal place to list a company on the stock market these days. If Ganymed had presence in the US, we would consider floating the firm over there, but this is not the case. One possible exit route is to first give the licence for one of its lead products only, then hang onto the company until it further develops the next lead product and exit it fully. But at the moment, nothing has been decided yet."

People
MIG – Matthias Kromayer
ATS – Thomas Strüngmann

This deal was originally covered on 18 November 2013

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