Santaris Pharma A/S (Denmark) - Dec 2007

unquote
01 December 2007

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

Gilde Healthcare Partners has joined existing shareholders, the board of directors and management in a €20.4m series-C round of funding for Santaris Pharma, a Danish pharmaceutical company. New investor Gilde contributed €7.5m, while the remaining €12.9m was supplied by a international syndicate of investors including, BankInvest, Novo, LD Pensions, Forbion Capital Partners, Global Life Science Ventures, Sunstone Capital, Seventure, Omega, Innovation Capital and the company’s board and management. The financing round will be used to continue the development of Santaris Pharma’s pipeline of RNA medicines and to conduct further clinical trials in 2008. Santaris received a €4.4m early-stage financial injection from BankInvest, Novo, LD Pension, InnovationsKapital, Dansk Kapitalanlæg and Dansk Erhvervsinvestering in 2005 (September 2005, page 24). The business also attracted a €40m second round of financing in May 2006 led by ABN AMRO Capital Life Sciences (April 2006, page 30). Other investors in the round included Global Life Science Ventures (GLSV), Vækstfonden and SPEF Venture.

Company

The biotechnology company focuses on gene-targeted therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. It has the worldwide patent rights to exploitation of locked nucleic acid (LNA) in pharmaceuticals. LNA drugs have the potential to make specific and effective gene silencing a reality in human medicine. It was founded in 2003 as a merger between Cureon A/S and Pantheco A/S, two companies specialising in RNA antagonising technologies. It employs 85 people and is headquartered in Hørsholm.

People

Edwin de Graaf, general partner, of Gilde Healthcare Partners will join the board of directors. Keith McCullagh is the CEO of Santaris Pharma.

Advisers

Company - Mazanti-Andersen, Korsø, Jensen & Partners, Frederik B Hasling, Lars Lutjohan (Legal)Equity - Kromann Reumert, Jørgen Kjergaard (Legal)

Sourced from: Nordic unquote" 70 (Feb 2008)