Largest series A round in France for five years sets up Merck Serono spin out Poxel for diabetes drug development.

Poxel, a France-based diabetes drug development firm, has raised €16m ($19.7m) in its series A round after spinning off from biotechnology company Merck Serono.

Merck Serono, which set up a corporate venturing unit last year, was not part of the A round but declined to say whether it had retained a stake in the business it set up last year.

Poxel’s A round was led by French venture capital firm Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners (EdRIP), with the €137m…