Lille, Thursday September 8th, 2022 – Vetbiolix, a veterinary biotechnology company based in France, labeled French Tech Seed, announces a fundraising of 2.5 million euros. The seed round brings together the two investment funds, CapTech Santé (leader of the round) and Nord France Amorçage (NFA), BPI France, and a pool of Business Angels from the veterinary field who bring high level industrial, scientific and veterinary clinical experience to the company. The new investors join in the capital the founders and Eurasanté, who have supported the project since its creation within the Eurasanté Bioincubator. Vetbiolix has developed an original business model, inspired by the One Health concept, based on exclusive and worldwide operating licenses for drug candidates in human clinical development acquired from international Biotechs. The company targets its acquisitions of drug candidates (i) on mature development programs in humans, and therefore ready to enter the clinic quickly in dog and/or cat patients, and (ii) on diseases for which the physiopathology and the mechanism of action targeted in humans and animals (dogs & cats) are similar. This fundraising allows the company to launch the clinical development of its pipeline of drug candidates, medical devices and innovative care products for dog and cat patients suffering from pathologies whose medical needs are unmet (periodontal diseases, chronic inflammatory diseases, gastrointestinal, dermatological, cancer and related pathologies). During the summer, the company thus validated the launch of its most advanced drug-candidates development programs.:- Clinical Proof of Concept study of a new cathepsin-K inhibitor (First-in-class) in dog patients suffering from periodontal disease,- Tolerance study of a cathepsin-K inhibitor in healthy cats- Clinical Proof of concept study of an A3 adenosine agonist (Frist-in-class) in dog patient suffering from osteoarthritis,- Tolerance study of an A3 adenosine agonist inhibitor in healthy cats Vetbiolix is also continuing to develop prototypes for its internal research programs in Medical Devices (oncology, drug delivery) and Care Products (hair care, ophthalmology, wound healing, weight control).
Matthieu Roquette, Founder, President of Vetbiolix, stated: « We are obviously delighted with this closing, which will allow Vetbiolix to accelerate its clinical developments on its 3 Business Units “Drugs”, “Diagnostics” and “Care”. Over the past 3 years, the company has built a pipeline of innovative and complementary products, ready to enter clinical development. The exclusive and worldwide licensing agreements for the veterinary market signed by the company with international Human Health Biotechs on drug candidates in clinical development in humans demonstrate the relevance and originality of our value creation model. The “Business-Science-Clinical Vet” partnership of the founding members, all very experienced in their field, was key to the success of these deals. »
Rémy Hanf, PhD, Founder, Chief Scientific Officer of Vetbiolix, added: « Our therapeutic and diagnostic products are, for the most part, first-in-class in clinical development in humans. The licensing-in agreements concluded by the company on the drug candidate products allow us to access packages of human preclinical-clinical-CMC(*) information which are very valuable for clinical development in dogs and/or cat. Our products do not require new preclinical steps: we build our “dog-patient / cat-patient” clinical protocols very quickly in our development process. In addition, on the industrial level, we benefit from the solid work of CMC carried out by our Biotech partners. The R&D work carried out by the company so far is promising and we look forward to obtaining the first results of clinical proof of concept in sick dog and cat patients. »(*) CMC = Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls Matthieu Dubruque, Founder, Managing Director of Vetbiolix, stated: « With this closing, Vetbiolix takes the train of Vet Biotech pioneers in the world. Our team of Business-Science-Clinical founders is efficient, the operational team has been strengthened and over the past 3 years we have selected the best R&D partners required throughout the value creation chain of our products. The “Proof of concept” clinical trial protocols are being deployed in veterinary clinical investigation sites in Europe: the first efficacy results are expected by the end of 2023 / beginning of 2024. At the same time, we are continuing our scouting process of Human product opportunities to enter into new exclusive worldwide veterinary license agreements in therapeutic areas complementary to those already targeted by the company. »
CapTech Santé and NFA, lead investors, added: « We initiated discussions with Vetbiolix very early in its part incubation process because we consider the therapeutic companion animal market has very significant potential for innovation in the years to come. Moreover, we strongly believe in the originality of Vetbiolix’s business model and the density/quality of its pipeline. The founding team has achieved the goals it set for itself over the past 3 years of incubation at Eurasanté by signing valuable licensing agreements with international listed Human Health Biotech companies, proof of the credibility and maturity of the Management Team in place and the relevance of its processes to create value in the near future. »
A propos de Vetbiolix – https://www.vetbiolix.com
Vetbiolix develops innovative products for the treatment and prevention of diseases affecting pets. As pharmaceutical and biotech companies research new molecules and compounds for human medicine, testing in different species often reveals exciting possibilities for companion animals. Vetbiolix has developed a unique approach focused on turning this potential into innovative prescription drugs and pet care products. To date, veterinarians still have few therapeutic and preventative care products available to them that have been specifically developed and approved for companion animals. Vetbiolix focuses exclusively on the clinical developments of prescription drugs, diagnostic tests, nutraceuticals and pet care products, thanks to its qualified external R&D partners in Europe and the United States. Vetbiolix is supported by the Eurasanté Bio-Incubator, the health cluster in northern France ranked among the top 20 European incubators promoting the development of pharma / biotech start-ups (Labiotech.eu 2019).
Management:
Scientific and Clinical Advisors:
Contact: matthieu.roquette@vetbiolix.com / matthieu.dubruque@vetbiolix.com
