Versant Ventures injects $12m into AAVLife

Inserm Transfert Initiative, a French seed-investment firm linked to the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, also participated in the financing round.

The capital injection will be used to advance the clinical studies of gene therapy for Friedreich's ataxia, with a view to commencing a clinical trial in 2015. Friedreich's ataxia is a rare disorder which affects 10-20,000 people in the United States and Europe. Symptoms including loss of control of body movements and difficulty in walking, followed by nervous-system damage and heart damage, usually first appear in childhood. The disorder is caused by a mutation in the frataxin gene.

This month, Versant Ventures also injected CHF 9m into Basel-based pharmaceutical company Piqur, which focuses on the discovery and development of anti-cancer drugs. In March, Inserm took part in an €18m series-A round for French biotech firm Inotrem, a company which develops therapeutic treatments for sepsis.

Company
Heaquartered in Paris, AAVLife is dedicated to advancing gene therapy for rare diseases. A team of five doctors work at the company.

People
Thomas Woiwode is a partner at Versant Ventures. Matthieu Coutet is a managing partner at Inserm Transfert Initative. Amber Salzman is co-founder and CEO of AAVLife.

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