Forbion et al. back Ario Pharma

Ario will use the fresh capital to carry out two separate, placebo-controlled phase-II trials for its XEN-D0501 product, which are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2014.

Forbion recently co-led a €20m funding round for Austria-based Hookipa Biotech in November alongside Sofinnova Partners. The firm's portfolio company, Dutch gene therapy firm uniQure, also recently filed a confidential F-1 form with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a potential IPO.

Company
Headquartered in Cambridge, Ario is a spinout from ion-channel drug discovery company Xention Pharma.

The company is developing drugs for the treatment of respiratory problems. Its XEN-D0501 product is designed to treat chronic idiopathic coughs, as well as symptoms associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, which include bronchitis and emphysema.

People
John Ford is the CEO of Ario. Forbion co-founder Sander Slootweg and partner Geert-Jan Mulder both sit on Ario's board of directors alongside Seroba partner Graham Fagg and NSV managing partner Somu Subramaniam.

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