Heparegenix, a Germany-based developer of therapies for acute and chronic liver diseases, raised €9m ($9.4m) in series A funding today from a consortium featuring German public-private partnership High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF).
The round also included Coparion, a €255m investment fund backed by Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and KfW, the government-owned development bank as well as the European Investment Fund, an arm of EU-owned financial institution European Investment Bank.
The round was co-led by Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and Novo Seeds, respective corporate venturing divisions of pharmaceutical firms Boehringer Ingelheim and Novo.
Founded in 2015, Heparegenix is aiming to treat acute and chronic liver diseases by restoring the ability of hepatocytes to regenerate. Hepatocytes form a critical part of the liver but lose their ability to regenerate when the organ is affected by an illness, resulting in loss of liver function and often death.
The approach is based on research led by Lars Zender at University Hospital Tübingen, the teaching hospital of Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen.
The series A money will go towards medicinal chemistry discovery programs and preclinical development of drug candidates through investigational new drug filings. Heparegenix hopes to enter a first clinical trial in 2019.
Wolfgang Albrecht, chief executive of Heparegenix, said: “I am excited to work with the very experienced founder team and with the strong syndicate of international investors. Heparegenix is in an excellent position to bring this new treatment concept forward to liver disease patients.”
Frank Hensel, investment manager at High-Tech Gründerfonds, said: “The work leading to the foundation of Heparegenix is a good example of the excellent science in Germany and the HTGF is pleased to be part of a strong syndicate which accomplishes the preclinical development of the compound.”
– This article first appeared on our sister site Global Government Venturing.
