Ascendis Pharma A/S (Denmark) - Dec 2007

unquote
01 December 2007

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Ascendis Pharma, a Copenhagen-based pharmaceutical business, has attracted a €17.6m series A financing round. The investment was led by Sofinnova Partners and co-led by Gilde Healthcare Partners; Zweite TechnoStart Ventures Fonds GmbH & Co KG also participated. The financial injection will be used to strategically broaden the company’s pipeline and to position Ascendis in the space of lifecycle management of high-value and marketed drugs. This financing marks the first venture capital injection in the company. Gilde was attracted to the deal due to the company’s patent-protected technology platform, its product line and the management team. The investor became familiar with the opportunity through the company’s CEO.

Company

The pharmaceutical company develops patentable versions of both currently marketed drugs and high-value development-stage opportunities for areas such as diabetes, CVS and cardiovascular disease. Its commercial headquarters is in Copenhagen, while the research organisation, formerly known as Complex Biosystems, is located in Heidelberg, Germany and was founded in 2007.

People

Ascendis’ management team consists of Jan Møller Mikkelsen, president and CEO, Dr Dirk Vetter, managing director of Ascendis Pharma GmbH, Dr Harald Rau, chief scientific officer and Lotte Sønderbjerg, chief administration officer. Rafaèle Tordjman is chairman of the board. Dirk Kersten, partner at Gilde Healthcare Partners will join the board of directors.

Advisers

Equity - Nielsen & Nørager, (Legal)Equity - Orsay, (Legal)

Sourced from: Nordic unquote" 69 (Jan 2008)