Vesalius backs Forendo Pharma in €4m round

The additional funding comes on the back of a €12m series-A financing in 2014 and €5.7m in R&D loans granted by Business Finland since 2014.

Capital was deployed from Vesalius III, which joins the existing investor syndicate comprising Novo Seeds, Karolinska Development, Novartis Venture Fund, M Ventures and Innovestor.

Vesalius managing partner Stéphane Verdood will join Forendo's board of directors.

The financing will enable Forendo to accelerate the development of its women's health portfolio, focusing on developing drugs for the oral, tissue-specific treatment of endometriosis, which is expected to have no impact on systemic hormone levels.

Previous funding
Karolinska invested €1.2m in a series-A funding round for Forendo in June 2013. Karolinska took a 21% stake in the company. Novo Seeds and Finnvera also participated in the financing round.

Together with previous funding from Tekes, the planned tranched funding round was expected to reach €10m over a three-year period, of which Karolinska would invest up to €3m.

Company
Founded in 2013 and based in Turku, Finland, Forendo is developing new treatments for endometriosis and low testosterone levels, based on research from the University of Turku. 

People
Forendo Pharma – Risto Lammintausta (CEO).
Vesalius Biocapital – Stéphane Verdood (managing partner).

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