GLIONOVA THERAPEUTICS SECURES SEK 42 MILLION ($5.7 MILLION) CO-LEAD BY HEALTHCAP AND NOVO TO TAKE NOVEL THERAPY FOR GLIOBLASTOMA INTO CLINIC
STOCKHOLM, November 12, 2014 – Glionova Therapeutics, an oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company today announced that it has closed a SEK 42 million (US$ 5.7 million) Series A financing co-led by Novo Seeds and the company’s founding investor, HealthCap to take its lead compound GLN-1001 for treatment of glioblastoma into clinical trials.
“We welcome this significant support from our new as well as existing investors, who represent some of the most experienced in the global life sciences industry,” said Eugen Steiner, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Glionova Therapeutics. “Their combined experience and financial backing will enable us to advance GLN-1001 into clinical development with the aim of making it available for patients with glioblastoma.“
Glionova Therapeutics is developing GLN-1001, a novel agent for potential disease modifying treatment for glioblastoma, the most common and most aggressive form of brain cancer. The project is based on recently published research from the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics at the Karolinska Institutet and the Swedish national research infrastructure organisation Chemical Biology Consortium Sweden (CBCS, www.cbcs.se), and the market opportunity identified by KI Innovations (http://karolinskainnovations.ki.se/).
Nanna Lüneborg, Investment Director at Novo Seeds, commented: “We are excited to join the team at Glionova on their journey to advance the unique findings and biology of this novel mechanism to target glioblastoma”. Johan Christenson, Partner at HealthCap, added: “Despite decades of targeted efforts, this remains an area of significant unmet medical need. The founders have demonstrated that GLN-1001 offers the potential of a highly differentiated new treatment option.” Following the investment, Drs. Johan Christenson and Nanna Lüneborg will both join the Glionova Board of Directors.
About Glionova Therapeutics
Glionova Therapeutics is a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on developing new therapies for cancer. The Company’s lead candidate, GLN-1001, is a first-in-class, orally available oncolytic small molecule, currently being developed as a potentially disease modifying therapy for glioblastoma by targeting specific vulnerabilities in tumor cells. Glioblastoma is the most common and most aggressive form of brain cancer, affecting roughly 2-7 in 100 000 individuals world-wide annually.
GLN-1001 is currently in preclinical development, where it has been shown to dramatically prolong survival in patient derived xenograft animal models of glioblastoma. Glionova aims to apply for orphan drug designation in both the United States and the European Union. Visit www.glionova.com for more information.
About HealthCap
HealthCap is one of the largest venture capital firms in Europe exclusively dedicated to life science investments. Its focus is on breakthrough therapies that address unmet medical needs and aim to bring significant value to patients and society. The firm has done over 100 investments, including 30 start-ups, and made more than 50 exits. Since its inception in 1996, HealthCap has raised more than €900 million from a group of long-term international investors, making it one of the largest specialized providers of venture capital to launch and build transforming companies that make a difference. For more information, visit healthcap.eu
About Novo Seeds
Novo Seeds is the early stage investment unit of Novo A/S.
Novo A/S is a Danish private limited liability company wholly owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, and the holding company of the Novo Group and as such the majority shareholder in the publicly listed companies Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S.Novo A/S provides seed, venture and growth capital to development stage companies within life science and biotechnology, as well as manages a broad portfolio of financial assets. For more information, visit www.novo.dk
For further information, please contact: Eugen Steiner, Chief Executive Officer of Glionova Therapeutics. Cell phone: +46 70 540 65 19. Email: eugen.steiner@glionova.com
Source: Glionova
