Serentis

Jul 1, 2016

CAMBRIDGE, UK--(Marketwire - July 3, 2007) - Serentis, a Cambridge UK, basedbiopharmaceutical company focussed on product development announced todaythat it has completed a £10.3 million ($20.6 million) Series A financinground. The investment was jointly led by leading Life Science venture funds, MVMLife Science Partners LLP, Apposite Capital LLP and Novo A/S. Dr MartinMurphy (MVM Life Science Partners LLP), Dr Allan Marchington (AppositeCapital LLP) and Dr Martin Edwards (Novo A/S) have joined the board ofSerentis. Established in 2006, Serentis, which has considerable expertise in productdiscovery and development, will use the funds to progress its lead productsinto clinical-stage proof-of-principle trials and to expand its developmentpipeline. Pipeline products will be identified via Serentis' internal,low-risk discovery activities and by licensing near-clinical stage assetsand technologies. "I am delighted that Serentis has received significant support from itssyndicate of leading, experienced healthcare investors. The funds raisedwill provide the financial resources to enable the company to further buildits management team and to develop both its internal programs and licensingactivities and thereby rapidly build a robust clinical-stage pipeline. "commented Tim Sharpington, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder ofSerentis. Dr Martin Murphy, Partner at MVM Life Science and Chairman of Serentiscommented:"The management team at Serentis have an impressive track record ofinnovating and developing low-risk development compounds which can berapidly progressed to proof-of-principle studies. We are pleased to be ableto support the company in order to allow expansion of the management teamand progression of the lead compounds. " Dr Allan Marchington, Partner at Apposite Capital, said:"We are excited to be making this investment in Serentis. The additionalfinancial resources will enable the company to expand its in-licensingcapabilities and provide best-in-class development for in-licensedcompounds for the benefit of both Serentis and the originating companies.We are extremely pleased with the progress the company's management teamhas made during the short time since the company's formation. The companynow has the financial resources to build on this success. " Dr Martin Edwards, Partner at Novo A/S quoted:"Novo A/S are delighted to support the further growth and development ofSerentis by co-leading this investment. I look forward to working with themanagement team and my fellow investor directors to build a very successfulUK-based biotech company. " Serentis was advised by Heller Ehrman (Chris Grew and Stacy Kim) and theinvestors were advised by Dechert (Charles Waddell). Notes to Editors About Serentis Serentis Inc is a privately owned biopharmaceutical company incorporated inDelaware in 2006. Its current operations, Serentis Ltd, are based inCambridge, UK. The company is developing a pipeline of products in areas ofunmet medical need. Its initial focus is in the areas of woundcare/dermatology and cancer supportive care with additional researchprogrammes in fibrotic disease and diabetic complications. Serentis hasin-house, low risk discovery capabilities. The company also intends toutilise its core development skills by licensing near-clinical stageproducts and technologies. The development model undertaken by Serentis isbased on a fast to proof-of-principle approach. For further information visit www.serentis-pharma.com About MVM Life Science Partners MVM Life Science Partners LLP is a Venture Capital Firm, founded in 1997,that invests in companies that discover, develop and commercialiseinnovations in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and medical devices for thelife science and healthcare markets. MVM raised its first fund in 1998 with £40 million in commitments, thesecond in 2001 with £110 million and is currently raising its third fund. MVM has offices in both London and Boston making investments predominantlyin Western Europe and the Eastern US and has a growing team with wideranging experience across the Life Science and Private Equity markets. For further information about MVM please visit www.mvmlifescience.com About Apposite Capital LLP Apposite is a single sector fund investing in both life sciences andhealthcare services on an international basis. Based in London, Appositewas established by the Mizuho Financial Group, one of Japan's largestfinancial services companies. The members of the Apposite team have ahighly synergistic mix of healthcare venture/private equity,entrepreneurship, management and investment banking experience spanningmany decades. Apposite also benefits from an established global network ofleading advisors covering all aspects of the global healthcare market. Thefund's strategy is to leverage the capabilities of the team and itsadvisors, combined with the fund's extensive range of contacts in Japan,Europe and the US to continuously add value to its portfolio companies.For more information about Apposite please visit the website www.apposite-capital.com or send an e-mail to: allan.marchington@apposite-capital.com . About Novo A/S Novo A/S is the holding company of the Novo group, and is wholly owned bythe Novo Nordisk Foundation. Novo A/S was established in 1999 to manage theassets of the Foundation and actively make investments on behalf of theFoundation. Novo A/S has over $8 billion under management, which includessignificant shareholdings in the independently operating and public listedcompanies Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S. Novo A/S provides venturecapital for life science companies with a pioneering concept driven by highquality individuals, who seek a dedicated investment partner to help themadvance towards commercialisation of ideas, products or services. Novo A/Shas active investments in more than 30 European and North American lifescience based companies. For more information about Novo A/S please visit www.novo.dk