BPI France invests €10m in Poxel series-B extension

Harriet Bailey
10 September 2014

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Poxel, backed by Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners (EdRip), among others, has raised a further €10m from the large venture division of BPI France.

The extension of Poxel's original €13m series-B funding round brings total investment in the biotech company to €39m. Kreos Capital provided a debt facility as part of the latest funding round.

The funds will be used to accelerate the development of the anti-diabetic agent Imeglimin in Asia and to begin clinical trials of a direct activator programme for controlling high blood sugar and high cholesterol.

According to Poxel, the worldwide pharmaceutical market for type-2 diabetes is expected to increase from $31bn in 2012 to $48.8bn in 2021.

Previous funding
EdRip, CDC Enterprises and Crédit Agricole Private Equity invested €16m in Poxel's series-A round in July 2010. EdRip contributed €8m via its Biodiscovery 3 FCPR, Partenariat & Innovation 2 FCPI and Partenariat & Innovation 3 FCPI funds, while CDC used its InnoBio fund to invest €5m. Crédit Agricole PE committed €3m to the round.

In December 2012, EdRip led a €13m series-B round alongside Omnes Capital (formerly Credit Agricole PE) and the CDC-managed InnoBio fund.

Company
Founded in 2009, Poxel is a biopharmaceutical company based in Lyon. It span out of Swiss pharma Merck Serono and now operates independently to develop drugs in-house. Its focus is on treatment for type-2 diabetes, including Imeglimin, an anti-diabetic agent currently in phase-2b clinical development; and a direct activator of the gene AMP Kinase, which is awaiting phase-1 clinical trials for the treatment of hyperglycaemia and dyslipidemia.

Type-2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes, usually occurring in adults but increasingly in children and adolescents. It occurs when the body is unable to produce sufficient insulin to regulate blood sugar levels, leading to a build-up of glucose in the blood. It is a major cause of both cardiovascular and kidney diseases. According to Poxel, 7 million people develop Type 2 Diabetes per year.

People
Thomas Kuhn is the CEO of Poxel. Raphaël Wisniewski is a partner at EdRip. Mailys Ferrere is head of the large venture investment division of BPI France.