Covagen is a spin-out of ETH Zurich.
Covagen, a biotech spin-out of ETH Zurich, has been acquired by Cilag, a Swiss pharmaceutical manufacturer affiliated with Janssen – itself belonging to US-based multinational pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson.
Covagen was spun out in 2007, and develops therapeutics to treat inflammatory diseases and cancer. It had previously attracted an investment from the Seroba Kernel Life Science Fund II, a fund managed by Kernel Capital. Kernel’s funds are supported by Limerick University Foundation, National University of Ireland, Galway Foundation, the Bank of Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, Invest NI, and a range of other financial institutions.
Cilag, founded in 1984 as a regional supply chain co-ordination centre for the pharmaceutical industry, now has deals in place with several Swiss pharmaceutical, consumer, medical devices and diagnostics companies. The company has grown to be the country’s largest manufacturer for the pharmaceutical industry.
Financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.
Vincent Fennelly, director at Kernel Capital and Seroba Kernel Life Science, said: “In 2009 when establishing the Seroba Kernel Life Sciences Fund II, we recognised the increasing convergence of information and communications technologies and life science. Today, our venture capital funds both technology and life science are achieving strong internal rate of returns and outperforming industry benchmarks. Covagen is now the 15th exit across our portfolio of six funds. Accumulated proceeds to date exceed $600m and we have delivered over $100m in profitable cash returns to our investors. This latest divestment secures a greater than six times cash multiple. This is to the benefit of both the Seroba Kernel Life Science Fund and the Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Private Equity Fund II. We anticipate additional successful realisations before year end 2014.”