Funding 'to develop skin care products'
Biopharmaceutical company Renovo Ltd, developing unique products to prevent scars and accelerate wound healing in the skin, has announced the closing of a second round of private equity financing totalling £21 million (US$33 million).
The second round was led by Healthcap of Manchester, UK acting as lead investor for a global syndicate of funds including new investor, Care Capital LLC, as well as existing investors, Atlas Venture and JPMorgan Partners. The round was over-subscribed by investors.
Proceeds from this financing ’will be used to continue clinical development of Renovo’s two lead compounds, one to prevent scarring and a second to accelerate wound healing’.
Argeris "Jerry" Karabelas, Partner of Care Capital and Carl-Johan Dalsgaard, Partner and advisor of HealthCap have been appointed to Renovo’s Board of Directors.
Professor Mark Ferguson, CEO of Renovo, explained: "Renovo is developing products that have the potential to revolutionise the treatment of many different types of wounds by exploiting recently discovered molecular mechanisms involved in scarring and healing."
"For those patients with burns, skin ulcers or undergoing surgery, therapy is not only painful but also very emotional. We believe our products may offer an effective advance over current therapy during this traumatic time."
"This financing, from such a distinguished group of experienced investors, will allow us to concentrate our efforts in advancing these compounds through clinical evaluation and ultimately provide patients with a significant benefit over current standards of care."
Renovo will also use the funds to accelerate entry of additional products into clinical trials and enhance its already significant discovery platforms. As its pipeline of products progresses to the end of Phase II, the financing will allow Renovo to seek the best partner to commercialise its products. In addition, Renovo will increase the number of employees to 75.
The market for skin wound healing products is growing at 10-15% per year and represents a multi-billion dollar opportunity. Currently, there are no marketed drugs for scar prevention. The chronic wound healing market is largely served by variations on traditional dressings or tissue engineered skin substitutes. In addition to being stand-alone therapies, Renovo’s products are complementary to these standard therapies.
Carl-Johan Dalsgaard, Partner and advisor of HealthCap, explains the attraction for HealthCap to make the investment. "In a short time Renovo has built an outstanding portfolio of innovative products, started clinical evaluation of two programs, built an outstanding management and advisory team, and developed its own clinical and laboratory infrastructure."
"Renovo’s products work by selectively modulating the multiple cellular, molecular and genetic mechanisms involved in healing," explained Dr Sharon O’Kane, Executive Director of R&D at Renovo.
"These drugs prevent scarring in acute wounds, e.g., trauma, surgery, burns and promote the healing of chronic wounds, e.g., diabetic, venous and pressure ulcers, by regenerating tissue."
New Board Members
Welcoming the new board members, Prof. Ferguson added: "We are also honoured to have Jerry and Carl-Johan join our Board, not only for their extensive investing knowledge, but each bring unique qualities and experience that is directly relevant to Renovo."
Jerry Karabelas was Head of Healthcare and CEO of worldwide Pharmaceuticals for Novartis AG from 1998 until July 2000. Prior to joining Novartis, Jerry was Executive Vice President of SmithKline Beecham responsible for US operations, European operations, Regulatory, and Strategic Marketing. He was responsible for numerous pharmaceutical product approvals and new product launches, including the launch of three US$1 billion products.
Jerry was the Founder and Chairman of the Novartis Bio Venture Fund from July 2000 until December 2001. In this role he invested about US$ 40 million in 14 portfolio companies.
Carl-Johan Dalsgaard has 10 years experience of senior management from pharmaceutical industry as VP Preclinical Research, Astra Pain Control AB; President, Astra Pain Control AB and most recently VP and Head of Therapy Area Pain Control, AstraZeneca R&D. In addition, Carl-Johan fulfilled specialist training in plastic and reconstructive surgery at the Karolinska Hospital.
Keywords : Renova UK Skin care Regeneration Diabetic and pressure ulcers Wound healing Scar prevention Biopharmaceutical
