- Financing round with top-tier life science venture capitalists, led by Athos Service and MIG Capital, joined by existing shareholders
- The new funds will be used to advance iOmx' lead programs IMT-07 and IMT-18, both addressing novel immune checkpoint targets in oncology
MARTINSRIED, GERMANY / ACCESSWIRE / October 5, 2021 / iOmx Therapeutics AG (iOmx), a biopharmaceutical company developing cancer therapeutics based on next generation immune checkpoint targets, today announced the closing of a Series B round totaling EUR 65 million. The financing was co-led by Athos Service GmbH - the Strüngmann family office - and MIG Capital AG, with participation from existing investors Wellington Partners, Sofinnova Partners and M Ventures.
The new funds will be invested to advance the company's lead program IMT-07, a SIK3 kinase inhibitor to treat solid tumors, through the first-in-man clinical trial, and to further develop IMT-18, a first-in-class IGSF11-targeting antibody to treat PD-1/PD-L1-resistant tumors. In addition, iOmx will continue to leverage its target discovery platform, iOTarg, to advance additional novel immune checkpoint programs to lead candidate stage.
"Using our iOTarg platform, we have previously identified two novel immune-checkpoint molecules expressed by cancer cells, SIK3 and IGSF11, and shown that blocking these targets with our proprietary drug candidates has anti-tumor effects and the potential to treat tumors that cannot otherwise be addressed by existing immune therapies," said Dr. Apollon Papadimitriou, CEO of iOmx. "It gives us great confidence to have the support of such an experienced group of investors, encouraging our work to advance immune-oncology science with focus on our lead program IMT-07 to enter the clinic in late 2022. We are excited about transforming iOmx into a clinical stage company."
Dr. Matthias Kromayer, Managing Partner of MIG Capital, commented: "In the vital world of cancer immunotherapy, iOmx's platform technology stands out because it screens for novel druggable immune checkpoint targets on tumor cells instead of T cells, thereby allowing the development of drugs that can prevent tumor immune evasion." He added: "We are pleased to join a world-class investor consortium and to begin to work with a highly talented and dedicated team at iOmx".
Dr. Gerald Moeller, Chairman of iOmx' Supervisory Board commented: "We now have the financial power to dynamically move forward. It is great to see that our new and continuing investors are fully aligned on their excitement and view of iOmx' potential. This is an enormous boost for our management and all people at the company."
About iOmx Therapeutics
iOmx Therapeutics (www.iomx.com) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing first-in-class cancer immunotherapies addressing novel immune checkpoints hijacked by cancer cells. Utilizing its iOTargTM high-throughput screening platform, iOmx has identified a number of proprietary tumor-associated next-generation immune checkpoints and is advancing a preclinical stage pipeline of promising drug candidates that have the potential to address cancers that are resistant to current immunotherapies. The company's lead program IMT-07 targets SIK3, an immune protective kinase in multiple solid tumors; the IMT-18 program is a first-in-class antibody designed to inhibit IGSF11, an immune checkpoint in PD-1/PD-L1-resistant tumors. Founded in 2016 based on the work of its scientific founders Philipp Beckhove, MD, and Nisit Khandelwal, Ph.D., conducted at the German Cancer Research Center, iOmx is backed by international venture capital investors, such as Wellington Partners, Sofinnova Partners and M Ventures as well as MIG Capital and Athos Service. iOmx is based in Martinsried/Munich, Germany.
About Athos Service GmbH
ATHOS Service GmbH is the Family Office of the Strüngmann family.
About M Ventures
M Ventures is the strategic, corporate venture capital arm of Merck. Its mandate is to invest in innovative technologies and products with the potential to significantly impact the company's core business areas. From its headquarters in Amsterdam and offices in the US and Israel, M Ventures invests globally in transformational ideas driven by great entrepreneurs. M Ventures takes an active role in its portfolio companies and teams up with entrepreneurs and co-investors to translate innovation towards commercial success. M Ventures has a significant focus on early stage investing and company creation including the creation of spin-offs to leverage the company's science and technology base. For more information, visit www.m-ventures.com.
About MIG Capital AG
MIG Capital AG (formerly MIG Verwaltungs AG) is one of the leading German VC investors. MIG invests through the MIG funds in young deep tech and life sciences companies in German-speaking Europe and beyond. The company has so far invested over €600 million in over 40 companies. MIG's portfolio companies develop innovations in areas such as biopharmaceuticals, artificial intelligence / machine learning, quantum technologies, digitization / IoT, precision medicine and digital health. The MIG investment portfolio currently consists of 28 companies.
MIG's investment team consists of a committed group of experts of engineers, biologists, scientists and investors who use analytical and creative processes to evaluate the risks and opportunities of business models and technologies. Their reputation, their experience and their network provide excellent access to companies, institutions and decision-makers in order to support the growth of their portfolio companies.
In recent years, MIG AG has successfully sold its portfolio companies SuppreMol (to Baxter in 2015), sunhill technologies (to Volkswagen in 2015), Ganymed (to Astellas in 2016) and Siltectra (to Infineon in 2018), and led BRAIN (in 2017), NFON (in 2018), BioNTech (in 2019) and Immatics (in 2020) to listings on stock exchanges.
For further information, please visit: http://www.mig.ag, www.mig-fonds.de
About Sofinnova Partners
Sofinnova Partners is a leading European venture capital firm in life sciences, specializing in healthcare and sustainability. Based in Paris, London and Milan, the firm brings together a team of professionals from all over the world with strong scientific, medical and business expertise. Sofinnova Partners is a hands-on company builder across the entire value chain of life sciences investments, from seed to later-stage. The firm actively partners with ambitious entrepreneurs as a lead or cornerstone investor to develop transformative innovations that have the potential to positively impact our collective future.
Founded in 1972, Sofinnova Partners is a deeply-established venture capital firm in Europe, with 50 years of experience backing over 500 companies and creating market leaders around the globe. Today, Sofinnova Partners has over €2 billion under management. For more information, please visit: www.sofinnovapartners.com
About Wellington Partners
Wellington Partners is a leading European Venture Capital firm investing in early- and growth stage life science companies. Wellington Partners is focused on investing in the most promising life science companies in the fields of innovative therapeutics, medical technology, diagnostics and digital health. With funds totalling more than EUR 1.0 billion, thereof EUR 450 million committed to Life Sciences, Wellington Partners has been actively supporting world class private companies translating true innovation into successful businesses with exceptional growth. To date, Wellington Partners has invested in 53 innovative life science companies, including Actelion (acquired by J&J), Definiens (acquired by AZ), invendo (acquired by Ambu), Rigontec (acquired by MSD), Symetis (acquired by Boston Scientific), Oxford Immunotec (acquired by PerkinElmer), immatics (Nasdaq: IMTX) and Themis (acquired by MSD).
For more information, please visit: www.wellington-partners.com/ls
Contact
MC Services AG
Katja Arnold, Julia von Hummel, Shaun Brown
T: +49(0)89 2102280
[email protected]
SOURCE: iOmx Therapeutics AG