The investment is led by Wellington Partners.
Neuway Pharma, the first spin-out from Life Science Inkubator (LSI) in Bonn, has raised €2.7m in its series A, led by Wellington Partners, a venture capital firm based in London, Munich and Zurich. The firm has about €800m under management.
Neuway was founded in April 2014, with main shareholders LSI and Heiko Manninga, the company’s initial managing director and chief scientific officer. Lucio van Rooijen, who had advised LSI for the last 12 months on the spin-out, and Stephan Rapp, managing director at biovenco consulting, also became founding shareholders. The spin out followed a four year incubation and €2.3m ($3.1m) in research funding by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
The company is developing a way to transport molecules through the blood brain barrier and into the neurons and other cells of the central nervous system. It is hoped that this could be the key to treating many life-threatening brain diseases much more effectively, in particular genetic diseases. It is one of medicine’s largest unmet medical needs today.
The LSI is located at the Centre of Advanced European Studies and Research (Caesar), affiliated with the Max Planck Society. The incubator evaluates and develops early-stage research projects in biotechnology, pharmacology and medical technology.
Heiko Manninga said: “We are excited to now jumpstart our commercial drug development activities, backed by such a strong lead investor as Wellington Partners, who has already added significant value to our development planning and strategy prior to investing. We believe that our technology effectively addresses one of the most important bottlenecks in central nervous system drug development.”
