Sept. 30 Quick Takes: Advent closes €86M second fund
Data for Sanofi’s anti-OX40 mAb, plus TrialSpark’s $156M series C, Minerva’s next step toward schizophrenia submission and more
Advent France Biotechnology is ready to invest in European life sciences companies, having completed the first close of its second fund for a total of €86 million ($100.6 million). Advent plans to select and finance two start-ups before year-end, focusing on those in France, Spain and Belgium. The company’s first fund, launched in 2017, funded 15 start-ups including Gamut Therapeutics S.A.S. and AgomAb Therapeutics N.V.
CDP Venture Capital SGR and the European Investment Fund will fund high-tech projects, including those in the life sciences, following a recent €260 million ($304 million) partnership agreement. In particular, the agreement will continue the investment platform ITAtech, which was launched by CDP and the EIF in December 2016 to drive technology transfer in Italy. The EIF no longer provides cornerstone investments in the U.K. following Brexit. ...