Fund+ leads €21.3m series-B for Minoryx Therapeutics

Alessia Argentieri
26 September 2018

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Fund+ has led a €21.3m series-B funding round for Minoryx Therapeutics, a Spanish biotech company focusing on genetic diseases.

Also taking part in the round were previous backers Ysios Capital, Kurma Partners, Roche Venture Fund, Idinvest Partners, Chiesi Ventures, Caixa Capital Risc and HealthEquity, and newcomers SFPI, Société Régionale d'Investissement de Wallonie and Sambrinvest.

Following the deal, Fund+ partner Philippe Monteyne and Société Régionale d'Investissement de Wallonie's Gery Lefebvre will join the company's board to support the management in this new phase of expansion.

The company will use the funding to demonstrate the potential of its MIN-102 programme in neuroinflammatory conditions such as cerebral ALD and multiple neurodegenerative diseases.

Previous funding
Caixa Capital Risc and Inveready led a first round of funding for Minoryx in April 2013. Caixa Capital Risc invested through its €8m Caixa Capital Micro vehicle, while Inveready committed capital from Inveready Biotech II.

Caixa Capital Risc led a new €1.6m funding round for Minoryx in January 2015, deploying capital from its Caixa Innvierte BioMed II. Swiss charity Sanfilippo Foundation also took part in the round.

Subsequently, Spanish VC Ysios Capital led a €19.4m series-A funding round for Minoryx in October 2015. The round was backed by several new investors, including Kurma Partners, Roche Venture Fund, Idinvest Partners and Chiesi Ventures, as well as existing investor Caixa Capital Risc.

Company
Founded in 2011 and based in Barcelona, Minoryx specialises in developing drugs and therapies for the treatment of rare and orphan diseases, particularly for X-ALD, a genetic disease that affects the nervous system. The company uses a technological platform and proprietary biological screening to discover small molecule-based drugs that restore the functionality of enzymes defective due to genetic mutations.

Minoryx's leading programme is MIN-102, a novel, orally bioavailable and selective PPAR gamma agonist able to prevent mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, demyelination and axonal degeneration shown in X-ALD.

People
Minoryx Therapeutics – Marc Martinell (co-founder, CEO).