GenKyoTex SA, a Geneva, Switzerland-based NOX enzyme specialist, closed a €14.5m (CHF18m) Series C financing round.
The round was led by Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, with participation from Vesalius Biocapital Partners and Mitsubishi Pharma Corporate Venture and existing investors Eclosion, SEFTI SGAM and Fondation d’Aide aux Entreprises (FAE).
The company intends to use the funds to advance clinical development of its lead compound GKT137831 for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy (it will enter Phase I later this year) and additional compounds, currently at preclinical stages, in other programmes.
Founded in 2006, GenKyoTex is developing small molecules that selectively inhibit the family of NOX enzymes. Nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidases – the NOX enzymes –
exist in seven forms and produce reactive oxygen species, which can cause tissue damage and modify biological pathways that may be important in a number of pathologies including metabolic,
cardiovascular, pulmonary and neurological diseases.
Simultaneously, Ursula Ney, former COO of Antisoma and former Director of Development at Celltech, has been appointed CEO of GenKyoTex. In conjunction with the financing, a new board of directors has been appointed and Ernest Loumaye, CEO of PregLem, becomes the new chairman of the board.
FinSMEs
25/05/2011