vasopharm Raises €20M in Funding

vasopharm_logovasopharm GmbH, a Wuerzburg, Germany-based biopharmaceutical company focusing on novel therapeutics for the treatment of cerebrovascular diseases, raised €20m in funding.

The round was co-led by existing investors Entrepreneurs Fund, Heidelberg Capital Private Equity and new investor Fort Rock Capital as well as existing investors Bayern Kapital and funds advised by Hanseatic Asset Management LBG. In conjunction with the funding, Dr Mario Alberto Accardi, Venture Partner at Fort Rock Capital, will be joining vasopharm’s Board as a Non-Executive Director.

The company intends to use the funds to support a pivotal, European Phase III study with its lead product VAS 203 in moderate to severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). All preparatory groundwork for the clinical trial has been finalized over the last 12 months and “First patient in” is expected in H1 2016.

Led by Christian Wandersee, Chief Executive Officer, vasopharm is focused on the development of small molecule therapeutics which modulate the bioavailability of biological NO, by addressing the entire NO/cGMP signal cascade and its functional counterpart NOX.
Its drug candidate VAS203 is an analogue of the natural co-factor biopterin, which is involved in the generation of nitric oxide by the Nitric Oxide Synthase (NOS) family of enzymes. The mechanism of action of VAS203 is believed to confer selective down regulation of inducible NOS (iNOS) without significantly inhibiting the function of other NOS enzymes.

FinSMEs

21/01/2016

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