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Vera Therapeutics Announces Acquisition of Monoclonal Antibody From Pfizer to Treat BK Virus in Transplant Patients

Abingworth

Ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial for MAU868 in kidney transplant patients; potential first-in-class

MAU868 Phase 2 data for kidney transplant to readout mid-2022

BK Virus is a leading cause of transplant loss and transplant-associated morbidity

BRISBANE, Calif., Dec. 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: VERA), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing treatments for immunological diseases that improve patients’ lives, announced today that it has acquired MAU868, a first-in-class monoclonal antibody to treat BK Virus (BKV) infections, and has entered into a credit facility with Oxford Finance LLC (Oxford) to provide borrowing capacity up to $50 million. MAU868, acquired from Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Pfizer Inc., has the potential to neutralize infection by blocking BKV virions from binding to host cells.

“BKV is a leading cause of kidney transplant loss and transplant-associated morbidity, and there are currently no available antiviral treatments in the U.S. We are excited to acquire MAU868 from Pfizer and carry it forward in development,” said Vera founder and CEO Marshall Fordyce, MD. “The acquisition of MAU868, a potentially transformative treatment for BKV, is consistent with our strategy to diversify our pipeline with new molecules that leverage our strengths and serve adjacent populations. We believe, based on currently available data, that MAU868 has the potential to significantly impact outcomes for kidney transplant patients and become the first effective therapy for BKV. We look forward to working with regulators to establish a new standard of care for kidney transplant patients.”

MAU868 is currently undergoing a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2 clinical trial to assess the safety, pharmacokinetics, and efficacy for the treatment of BKV in kidney transplant patients. MAU868 has been shown in an interim analysis of week 12 data from Cohort 1 and 2 of a Phase 2 study to be well tolerated and showed a greater proportion of subjects with decrease in BK plasma viral load versus placebo. Full Cohort 1 and 2 interim analysis results will be submitted for presentation at a conference in mid-2022.

Up to 90 percent of healthy adults are infected with BKV, but it remains latent in kidney and bladder tissues. Reactivation occurs in the setting of immune suppression, and causes clinical disease in the transplant setting. BKV is a significant cause of complications in these immunocompromised patients, including in kidney transplant and hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients. In kidney transplant recipients, BKV is a leading cause of allograft loss and poor outcomes, while in HSCT recipients, the virus significantly increases the risk of severe hemorrhagic cystitis, which causes bladder damage. There are currently no approved treatments for BKV in the U.S.

MAU868 Asset Acquisition
In partial consideration for the asset acquisition, Vera made an upfront payment of $5.0 million. In addition to the upfront payment, Vera is also obligated to make certain milestone payments in an aggregate amount of up to $7.0 million based on certain regulatory milestones. Further, Vera is required to pay Amplyx low single-digit percentage royalties based on net sales on a country-by-country and product-by-product basis. The rights to MAU868 that Vera acquired from Amplyx are subject to a license agreement by and between Amplyx and Novartis International Pharmaceutical AG, pursuant to which Vera is obligated to make certain milestone payments in an aggregate amount of up to $69.0 million based on certain clinical development, regulatory and sales milestones. Further, the Company is required to pay Novartis mid-to-high single-digit percentage royalties based on net sales on a country-by-country and product-by-product basis.

Credit Facility
Vera also announced today that they entered into a credit facility with Oxford Finance. Under the terms of the loan agreement, Oxford will provide Vera with borrowing capacity of up to $50 million. The initial $5 million funded at closing, and an additional $45 million will be available in minimum draws of $5 million, at Vera’s option through the end of 2022. The debt facility provides for at least 48-months of interest-only at close. There are no warrants or financial covenants associated with the credit facility. Armentum Partners served as the Company’s financial advisor on the debt financing.

About Vera
Vera Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing treatments for serious immunological diseases. Vera’s mission is to advance treatments that target the source of immunologic diseases in order to change the standard of care for patients. Vera’s lead product candidate is atacicept, a fusion protein self-administered as a subcutaneous injection once weekly that blocks both B lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS) and a proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL), which stimulate B cells and plasma cells to produce autoantibodies contributing to certain autoimmune diseases, including IgA nephropathy (IgAN), also known as Berger’s disease. Vera is also developing MAU868, a monoclonal antibody that neutralizes infection with BK Virus, a polyomavirus that can have devastating consequences in certain settings such as kidney transplant. For more information, please visit www.veratx.com.

Forward-looking Statements

Statements contained in this press release regarding matters that are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include statements regarding, among other things, the potential efficacy of our product candidates, research and clinical development plans, the scope, progress, and results of developing our product candidates, strategy, regulatory matters, including the timing and likelihood of success of obtaining drug approvals, market opportunity and our ability to complete certain milestones, the timing of the expected closing of the debt financing, and the expected use of the net proceeds therefrom. Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Words such as “plans,” “will,” “anticipates,” “goal,” “potential,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon Vera’s current expectations and involve assumptions that may never materialize or may prove to be incorrect. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of various risks and uncertainties, which include, without limitation, risks related to the ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the acquisition, including the possibility that the expected benefits from the acquisition will not be realized or will not be realized within the expected time period, risks and uncertainties associated with Vera’s business in general, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the other risks described in Vera’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date on which they were made and are based on management’s assumptions and estimates as of such date. Vera undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made, except as required by law.

Contacts
Investor Contact:
IR@veratx.com

Media Contact:
Greig Communications, Inc.
Kathy Vincent
kathy@greigcommunications.com

 

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Milestone for Calliditas as FDA grants accelerated approval of TARPEYO™

December 16, 2021

Our portfolio company Calliditas Therapeutics reached a major milstone yesterday with its accelerated FDA approval of Tarpeyo™, a novel therapy indicated for patients with nephropathy. Industrifonden was the first institutional venture investor in Calliditas backing its mission to bring novel therapies to patients with high unmet needs in renal disease. This landmark achievement will bring a novel therapy in Tarpeyo™ to market in the US for a severe patient population with deterioration of kidney function, so called IgA nephrophaty. Calliditas Therapeutics listed successfully on NASDAQ Stockholm in 2018 and underwent a dual-listing on NASDAQ US in June 2020. We congratulate the entire Calliditas team lead by René Lucander and are glad to support our mission to back lifesciences companies bringing novel therapies to patients with severe health conditions and high unmet need for new therapies.

The press release from Calliditas Therapeutics can be read here.

/Patrik Sobocki, Investment Director, on behalf of the entire team at Industrifonden

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Philips acquires Gilde portfolio company Vesper Medical to further expand its image-guided therapy devices portfolio

GIlde Healthcare
December 14, 2021
Amsterdam & Utrecht (the Netherlands)

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG; AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Vesper Medical Inc., a US-based medical technology company that develops minimally-invasive peripheral vascular devices. Vesper Medical, a portfolio company of Gilde Healthcare, will further expand Philips’ portfolio of diagnostic and therapeutic devices with an advanced venous stent portfolio for the treatment of deep venous disease. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2022. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Complementing Philips’ strong intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) offering in venous imaging, Vesper Medical will add a venous stenting solution to address the root cause of chronic deep venous disease (DVD). The Vesper DUO Venous Stent System® consists of venous stents intended to treat deep venous obstruction. Uniquely engineered to address the multiple anatomical challenges of the deep venous system, it provides physicians with a modular portfolio to customize therapy, restore venous flow, and resolve the painful symptoms of deep venous disease for the broad range of patients suffering from chronic venous insufficiency.

The acquisition of Vesper Medical is another step in our objective to innovate patient treatment with more sophisticated technology and expand our growth in the vascular therapy space.

Chris Landon, Senior Vice President and General Manager Image Guided Therapy Devices at Philips:
“The acquisition of Vesper Medical is another step in our objective to innovate patient treatment with more sophisticated technology and expand our growth in the vascular therapy space,” said Chris Landon, Senior Vice President and General Manager Image Guided Therapy Devices at Philips. “Leveraging our significant procedural expertise, we see strong clinical synergies between Vesper Medical’s innovative stenting solution and our existing peripheral vascular offering. This combined offering will help to better support clinicians to decide, guide, treat and confirm during the procedure, thereby enhancing patient care.”

“I am proud that Philips will become the home for our innovations and our people, joining forces to shape the future of treating deep venous disease,” said Bruce Shook, President and CEO of Vesper Medical. “I look forward to further advance our next generation venous technology and bring it to patients and clinicians globally, together with Philips.”

Vesper Medical was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Wayne, Pennsylvania, US. Upon completion of the transaction, Vesper Medical and approximately 20 of its employees will become part of Philips’ Image-Guided Therapy business.

About Gilde Healthcare
Gilde Healthcare is a specialized healthcare investor with two fund strategies: Venture&Growth and Private Equity. The firm operates out of offices in Utrecht (The Netherlands), Frankfurt (Germany) and Cambridge (United States). Gilde Healthcare Venture&Growth invests in fast growing, innovative companies active in (bio)pharmaceuticals, healthtech and medtech that are based in Europe and North America. For more information, please visit: www.gildehealthcare.com.

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EQT Private Equity to invest in 3Shape, a global leader in digital dentistry

eqt

EQT Private Equity to acquire a minority stake in 3Shape, a global leading player and innovator in digital dentistry focused on intra-oral scanners, CAD and CAM software for dental clinics and the dental lab market

3Shape’s products are at the forefront of driving digitalization of dentist workflows, reducing material consumption and improving preventive care and patient outcomes

3Shape will leverage the expertise from EQT’s in-house digitalization team, global healthcare sector team, and global advisory network, in its next chapter of growth, focusing on continued international expansion and roll-out of additional digital services

EQT is pleased to announce that the EQT IX fund (“EQT Private Equity”) has agreed to acquire a 20 percent stake in 3Shape (the “Company”) from its founders, who will remain majority shareholders in the Company. Together with the founders and management, EQT Private Equity will support and accelerate execution of 3Shape’s strategic vision to continue to lead the digitalization of the global dental industry.

Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, 3Shape is a global leader in digital dentistry and provides state of the art intra-oral scanning solutions, CAD (Computer Aided Design) and CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) software for dentists and dental laboratories in over 100 countries. The Company was founded in 2000 and employs more than 1,900 people in Europe, Americas and Asia, of which approximately 500 sit in R&D.

3Shape operates in a highly attractive sub-segment of the Dental Equipment and Software market growing at around 15 percent per year, driven by the digitalization of dental workflows to provide improved and more efficient care. The market is supported by long-term secular growth drivers including an aging population, higher disposable income, and increasing demand for aesthetic treatments. 3Shape is uniquely positioned at the nexus of the digital workflow to drive the digital transformation, and thereby improving patient care and reducing the environmental footprint of analogue supply chains and processes.

EQT Private Equity will support 3Shape’s vision to further internationalize and drive significant global growth while continuing to innovate and deliver unique digital solutions globally. The Company will be able to leverage and benefit from the full EQT platform, including EQT’s in-house digital teams, its global healthcare sector team, the broad experience from EQT’s advisory network, as well as strong ESG capabilities, to support 3Shape’s continued growth journey.

Mads Ditlevsen, Partner within EQT Private Equity’s Advisory Team, commented, “Having followed 3Shape closely for more than a decade, we are highly impressed with its high pace of innovation and ability to drive the digitalization of the dental industry, cementing its position as a global market leader. We see significant global potential for 3Shape and EQT looks forward to contributing to its continued development in close collaboration with its founders, board and the management team.”

Michael Bauer, Partner and Co-Head of Healthcare within EQT Private Equity’s Advisor team, added, “We are very excited about the opportunity to partner with the 3Shape team and take an active role in its next growth phase. This investment is a testimony to EQT’s healthcare strategy and dedication to invest in global leading healthcare companies within attractive high-growth subsectors, which 3Shape is a perfect example of.”

Jørgen Jensen, Chairperson of 3Shape commented, “We are pleased with the confidence that EQT has shown us by investing a substantial amount in becoming a co-owner of the company. This long-term partnership will strengthen 3Shape and help us deliver on our vision of continued innovation, and thereby delivering unique digital solutions for the global dental industry. At the same time, this investment from such an esteemed investor confirms the strength of 3Shape’s business model and the company’s very exciting future.”

Jakob Just-Bomholt, CEO of 3Shape, added, “EQT will undoubtedly contribute knowledge and experience to support 3Shape’s continued growth journey. We have great ambitions, and we will continue to be the world leader in digitizing dental care. Our scanners are used by more than one million patient scans each month, and this number will increase significantly going forward. With our technology, dentists can effectively automate and digitize work flows, while offering diagnostic services that can prevent dental problems. We will do this, among other things, through our next-generation technology and our new 3Shape Unite platform. There is significant potential to deliver digital services and products to dentists around the world and 3Shape is in a unique position to capture the potential and continue to strengthen our position as the market leader.”

EQT Private Equity was advised by FIH Partners (M&A), Accura (Legal), EY (Financial & Tax), Ringstone (Technology), and The Footprint Firm (ESG). The transaction is expected to close during Q1 2022.

With this transaction, EQT IX is expected to be 75-80 percent invested (including closed and/or signed investments, announced public offers, if applicable, and less any expected syndication).

Contact
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

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Ardian arranges a €109 million unitranche financing to support SEVETYS, a leading independent operator of veterinary clinics in France

Ardian

Ardian, a world leading private investment house, today announces the arrangement of a unitranche facility to support SEVETYS (formerly known as Vet Dev) in its acquisition of 50 additional veterinary clinics in France. The financing package also includes a dedicated committed acquisition line to support the Group in its future buy-and-build strategy.
Headquartered in Paris, SEVETYS is one of the leading operators of veterinary clinics in France with approximately 100 clinics. Organized as a hub-and-spoke model, the Group provides complete veterinary services from generalist care and vaccination to more complex surgical procedures. SEVETYS is known for its high-quality offering, thanks to its skilled practitioners and high-grade equipment, and occupies a leading position in France. The company forecasts to generate c. €60 million of revenues in 2021.

SEVETYS is a leading independent group supported by French private investors and veterinarians, who have chosen Ardian Private Debt as a financing partner, thanks to its tailor-made unitranche financing, which combines flexibility and rapidity of execution.

SEVETYS has been established with the objective of consolidating the growing and fragmented French veterinary market. With a total of over 6,000 clinics but only c.10% being part of large groups, the French market presents much lower consolidation levels than other countries such as the UK (c.50%) or Scandinavia (c.70%). The market has been consolidating at a fast pace over the past months, with SEVETYS being one of the fastest growing groups.

“SEVETYS has an impressive growth story and we are pleased to support the Group and its management team in this new chapter of development. We are confident that SEVETYS will continue to grow both organically and via strategic acquisitions in the French market, which is consolidating rapidly, and we believe that our financing solution is ideally suited to this purpose.” JEAN-DAVID PONSIN, MANAGING DIRECTOR IN THE PRIVATE DEBT TEAM AT ARDIAN

“We have an ambitious development strategy that requires a solid yet flexible financing solution. With this unitranche financing, our intention is to accelerate our growth strategy even further and solidify SEVETYS’ position as one of the leading operators in France. We are confident that Ardian will be a valuable long-term partner that will support the Group as it expands.” DANIEL EINHORN, CEO OF SEVETYS

PARTIES TO THE TRANSACTION

  • SEVETYS

    • Daniel Einhorn, Alexandre Brevault
    • Financing Legal Advisor: Goodwin (Adrien Paturaud, Alexander Han)
    • M&A Advisor: Rothschild (Pierre Pessans, Thomas Lenoble, Côme Sesboué, Augustin Viellard)
    • Financial VDD: Oderys (Thomas Claverie, Andoni Balaguer, Benjamin SUPIOT)
    • Corporate Legal Advisor: Winston & Strawn (Julie Vern, Gilles Bigot, Myriam Saragouss)

  • Ardian

    • Jean-David Ponsin, Gabrielle Philip, Hadrien Barnier
    • Financing Legal Advisor: Willkie Farr & Gallagher (Paul Lombard, Laurence Raud, Martin Jouvenot, Nolwenn Poisson)

ABOUT SEVETYS

SEVETYS is one of the leading operators of veterinary clinics in France with approximately 100 clinics. Organized as a hub-and-spoke model, the Group provides complete veterinary services from generalist care and vaccination to more complex surgical procedures. SEVETYS is known for its high-quality offering, thanks to its skilled practitioners and high-grade equipment, and occupies a leading position in France. The company forecasts to generate c. €60 million of revenues in 2021.

www.sevetys.fr

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$120bn managed or advised in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base.
Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world.
Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 800 employees working from fifteen offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), the Americas (New York, San Francisco and Santiago) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul). It manages funds on behalf of more than 1,100 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.

www.ardian.com

Media Contacts

ARDIAN – Headland

VIKTOR TSVETANOV

vtsvetanov@headlandconsultancy.co.uk Tel.: +44 207 3435 7469

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Centauri Health Solutions Adds Clinical Data Exchange Capabilities with Acquisition of Secure Exchange Solutions

Centauri Health Solutions (“Centauri”), an innovative healthcare technology and services company, announced today that it acquired Secure Exchange Solutions (“SES”), a Rockville, Maryland-based health information technology provider focused on physician connectivity and clinical data exchange. This addition expands Centauri’s comprehensive healthcare technology solutions, which already include Risk Adjustment, Quality, Medicaid and Disability Eligibility and Enrollment, Out-of-State Medicaid Billing, Revenue Cycle Analytics, and Referral Management and Analytics.

Secure Exchange Solutions is the leading platform provider of cloud-based clinical data exchange software. SES sets the standard for protecting, streamlining, and delivering sensitive and critical health care information while ensuring compliance and improving efficiency and quality. SES is connected to 90,000 healthcare organizations, and over 50 of the leading health information exchanges, providing integrated secure communications reaching more than 2.7 million healthcare professionals nationwide.  The combination of Centauri and SES creates a suite of solutions that accelerate improvement of patient care while addressing value-based care.

“SES is pleased to join a company that is built around the similar goal of leveraging technology to improve healthcare and patients’ lives,” said Michele Darnell, President of SES. “We are excited to couple our clinical data exchange platform with Centauri’s suite of data analytics and revenue and quality optimization products to provide comprehensive solutions that are unmatched in the marketplace.”

“The addition of SES empowers Centauri to support strategic client initiatives in the area of value-based care and clinical data exchange,” said Adam Miller, Centauri co-founder and CEO. “Promoting provider and payor collaboration through our standards-driven approach reduces time to implement and increases adoption versus proprietary software installation. In addition, our unique suite of solutions on the revenue side of the value-based care equation is additive to traditional solutions focused only on lowering the overall cost of care.”

The combined organization will be led by Miller, with Darnell continuing to oversee the SES division together with SES Chief Technology Officer Boris Shur. SES CEO Dan Kazzaz will engage strategically with Centauri by joining its advisory board.

The SES transaction was supported by Centauri’s lead investor, Abry Partners, and its other key investors, Silversmith Capital Partners and SV Health Investors. Truist Securities was the financial advisor to SES. Duane Morris LLP was the legal advisor to SES and Kirkland and Ellis was the legal advisor to Centauri.

About Centauri Health Solutions

Centauri Health Solutions provides technology and technology-enabled services to payors and providers across all healthcare programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, Commercial and Exchange. In partnership with our clients, we improve the lives and health outcomes of the members and patients we touch through compassionate outreach, sophisticated analytics, clinical data exchange capabilities, and data-driven solutions. Our solutions directly address complex problems such as uncompensated care within health systems; appropriate, risk-adjusted revenue for specialized sub-populations; and improve access to and quality of care measurement. Headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz., Centauri Health Solutions employs 1700 dedicated associates across the country. Centauri has made the prestigious Inc. 5000 list since 2019, as well as the 2020 Deloitte Technology Fast 500™ list of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S. For more information, visit www.centaurihs.com.

About Abry Partners

Abry is one of the most experienced and successful sector-focused private equity investment firms in North America. Since its founding in 1989, the firm has completed over $90 billion of leveraged transactions and other private equity or preferred equity placements. Currently, the firm manages over $5 billion of capital across its active funds. For more information about Abry, please visit www.abry.com.

About Silversmith Capital Partners

Founded in 2015, Silversmith Capital Partners is a Boston-based growth equity firm with $2.0 billion of capital under management. Silversmith’s mission is to partner with and support the best entrepreneurs in growing, profitable technology and healthcare companies. Representative investments include ActiveCampaign, Appfire, Centauri Health Solutions, DistroKid, Impact, LifeStance Health, MediQuant, Panalgo, Unily, Validity, and Webflow. The partners have over 75 years of collective investing experience and have served on the boards of numerous successful growth companies including ABILITY Network, Archer Technologies, Dealer.com, Liazon, Liberty Dialysis, MedHOK, Net Health, Passport Health, SurveyMonkey, and Wrike. For more information about Silversmith, please visit www.silversmithcapital.com.

About SV Health Investors

SV Health Investors is a leading healthcare fund manager investing in tomorrow’s healthcare breakthroughs. SV invests across stages, geographic regions and sectors, with expertise spanning healthcare services / technology, medical products, biotechnology, dementia and public equities. With approximately $2.2B in assets under management and offices in Boston and London, SV has built an extensive network of investment professionals and experienced industry veterans. Since its founding in 1993, SV has invested in more than 175 companies, with more than 75 of these having achieved successful acquisitions or IPOs. For more information, please visit www.svhealthinvestors.com.

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Altamir is to sell Unilabs, an investment held via the Apax IX LP fund

Altamir

Paris, 7 December 2021 – Apax Partners LLP is to sell its investment in Unilabs to the Danish holding company A.P. Moller.

The transaction, which is expected to close in Q1 2O22, will give Altamir a MOIC of around 3.2x. This represents an uplift of more than 25% to Unilabs‘ fair value as of 30 June 2021.

Unilabs is one of Europe’s leading diagnostics companies, offering services in laboratory medicine, imaging and pathology. Supported by the Apax team, Unilabs has grown both organically and through M&A, completing 50+ acquisitions since 2017, and it currently operates in 15 countries with market-leading positions in most of them. Unilabs has also become a pan-European leader in digital radiology and pathology.

About Altamir

Altamir is a listed private equity company (Euronext Paris-B, ticker: LTA) founded in 1995, with a NAV of more than €1.2bn. Its objective is to provide shareholders with long-term capital appreciation and regular dividends by investing in a diversified portfolio of essentially unlisted companies.

Altamir’s investment policy is to invest principally via and with the funds managed or advised by Apax Partners SAS and Apax Partners LLP, two leading private equity firms that take majority or lead positions in buyouts and growth capital transactions and seek ambitious value creation objectives.

In this way, Altamir provides access to a diversified portfolio of fast-growing companies across Apax’s sectors of specialisation (Tech & Telco, Consumer, Healthcare, Services) and in complementary market segments (mid-sized companies in continental Europe and large companies in Europe, North America and key emerging markets).

Altamir derives certain tax benefits from its status as a SCR (“Société de Capital Risque”). As such, Altamir is exempt from corporate tax and the company’s investors may benefit from tax exemptions, subject to specific holding-period and dividend-reinvestment conditions.

For more information: www.altamir.fr

Contact

Claire Peyssard Moses

Tel.: +33 1 53 65 01 74 / E-mail: investors@altamir.fr

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Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and Artios Pharma Announce a Global Strategic Collaboration on Novel DNA Damage Response Targets in Oncology

M Ventures

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and Artios will conduct collaborative research and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany shall have the right to opt into exclusive development and commercialization of compounds on up to 8 targets

Artios to receive US$30 million in up-front and near-term payments, plus double-digit option fees and up to US$860 million total milestones per target

Collaboration to leverage significant expertise and R&D resources of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany in the field of DNA Damage Response to identify and develop precision oncology medicines targeting nucleases

Darmstadt, Germany, Cambridge, UK and New York, USA, 3rd December 2020: Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company and Artios Pharma Limited (Artios), a leading DNA Damage Response (DDR) company developing a broad pipeline of precision medicines for the treatment of cancer, today announced a global three year strategic research collaboration to discover and develop multiple precision oncology drugs.

“Our platform has the potential to revolutionize targeted treatment in cancer and deliver on the promise of precision medicine. This collaboration will leverage the potential of our unique discovery platform of novel DNA repair nuclease inhibitors and targets that we have been developing. The partnership puts us in an exceptional position to focus internal efforts on our leading portfolio of assets which includes a small-molecule ATR inhibitor and a Polθ programme, both in candidate IND evaluation,” said Niall Martin, Chief Executive Officer at Artios Pharma.

“Targeting DNA damage response has the potential to provide an important therapeutic option for many patients in need of new treatments. We are excited about working with Artios to develop novel precision oncology medicines as we move towards changing the current paradigm in cancer treatment. This collaboration further strengthens our leadership and expertise in the field and discovery of DDR inhibitors and complements our multiple innovative assets currently being evaluated in several Phase I and Phase II clinical studies,” said Andree Blaukat, SVP and Head Translational Innovation Platform Oncology & Immuno-Oncology, at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.

Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will leverage Artios’s proprietary nuclease targeting discovery platform to jointly identify multiple synthetic lethal targets for precision oncology drug candidates. During this joint research collaboration, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany will contribute its significant expertise and resources in the field of DDR and will have exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize selected therapeutics discovered under the collaboration. The collaboration does not include Artios’s lead programmes, Polθ and ATR inhibitors, for which Artios will retain all rights.

Nucleases are critical enzymes involved in the maintenance of genomic integrity. Cancer cells are dependent on nucleases for their survival in response to DNA damage. Also, in certain cancers which exhibit mutations in DNA damage response pathways, inhibiting key nucleases can lead to selective cancer cell killing i.e. synthetic lethality.

As part of the agreement, Artios will receive a payment of US$30 million in the form of an up-front and near-term payments. If Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany chooses to exercise the option, subject to double-digit option fees, Artios will be eligible to receive up to US$860 million per target, in addition to up to double digit royalty payments on net sales of each product commercialized by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.

Subject to certain conditions, Artios has opt-in rights for joint development and commercialization with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany for the programmes.

For more information, please contact:

Artios Pharma Ltd.
Niall Martin, Chief Executive Officer
+44 01223 867 867

Media & IR Enquiries
Optimum Strategic Communications
Mary Clark/ Eva Haas/ Manel Mateus
artios@optimumcomms.com
+44 020 3922 1906

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
Gangolf Schrimpf, Media Relations
gangolf.schrimpf@merckgroup.com
+49 6151 72-9591

** Notes to Editors

About Artios Pharma Ltd.**

Artios is a leading DNA Damage Response (DDR) company focused on developing first-in-class treatments for cancer. The Company, founded by SV Health Investors in 2016, is led by an experienced scientific and leadership team with proven expertise in DDR drug discovery. It has a unique partnership with Cancer Research UK (CRUK), and collaborations with leading DNA repair researchers worldwide, such as The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London, the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) and the National Centre for Biomolecular Research at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic, with their expertise in DNA repair nucleases. Artios is building a pipeline of next-generation DDR programmes to target hard to treat cancers. It is backed by blue chip investors including: AbbVie Ventures, Andera Partners (formerly EdRIP), Arix Bioscience plc, IP Group plc, LSP, M Ventures, Novartis Venture Fund (NVF), Pfizer Ventures and SV Health Investors. Artios is based at the Babraham Research Campus in Cambridge, UK, with offices in New York City, USA.www.artiospharma.com

About Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, operates across healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 57,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people’s lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From advancing gene editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices – the company is everywhere. In 2019, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany generated sales of € 16.2 billion in 66 countries.

Scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany’s technological and scientific advances. This is how Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany has thrived since its founding in 1668. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany holds the global rights to the Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany operate as EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma in life science, and EMD Performance Materials.

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Nordic Capital agrees to sell Veonet to Ontario Teachers’ and PAI Partners

Nordic Capital

Nordic Capital agrees to sell Veonet to Ontario Teachers’ and PAI Partners Image

Nordic Capital agrees to sell Veonet to Ontario Teachers’ and PAI Partners

December 03 2021
Nordic Capital agrees to sell Veonet to Ontario Teachers’ and PAI Partners Image

 

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers’) and PAI Partners have agreed to acquire Veonet, a leading pan-European network of ophthalmological clinics, from Nordic Capital IX. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition is subject to customary regulatory approval.

Veonet is headquartered in Munich, Germany, and operates more than 190 ophthalmological clinics across Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Switzerland. It treats more than 1.2 million patients every year, cooperating with all health insurance companies and supporting national healthcare service delivery. Veonet is dedicated to ensuring that every patient enjoys a lifetime of healthy vision, contributing to their overall health and wellbeing.

Veonet built a strong foundation with Nordic Capital and looks forward to continuing its journey and creating even better outcomes for its patients and even more opportunities for its employees.

 

 

Nordic Capital
Katarina Janerud, Communications Manager
Nordic Capital Advisors
Tel: +46 8 440 50 50
e-mail: katarina.janerud@nordiccapital.com

 

About Nordic Capital

Nordic Capital is a leading private equity investor with a resolute commitment to creating stronger, sustainable businesses through operational improvement and transformative growth. Nordic Capital focuses on selected regions and sectors where it has deep experience and a long history. Focus sectors are Healthcare, Technology & Payments, Financial Services, and selectively, Industrial & Business Services. Key regions are Europe and globally for Healthcare and Technology & Payments investments. Since inception in 1989, Nordic Capital has invested more than EUR 19 billion in over 120 investments. The most recent entities are Nordic Capital X with EUR 6.1 billion in committed capital and Nordic Capital Evolution with EUR 1.2 billion in committed capital, principally provided by international institutional investors such as pension funds. Nordic Capital Advisors have local offices in Sweden, the UK, the US, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Norway and South Korea. For further information about Nordic Capital, please visit www.nordiccapital.com

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Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and Artios Pharma Announce a Global Strategic Collaboration on Novel DNA Damage Response Targets in Oncology

M Ventures

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and Artios will conduct collaborative research and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany shall have the right to opt into exclusive development and commercialization of compounds on up to 8 targets

Artios to receive US$30 million in up-front and near-term payments, plus double-digit option fees and up to US$860 million total milestones per target

Collaboration to leverage significant expertise and R&D resources of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany in the field of DNA Damage Response to identify and develop precision oncology medicines targeting nucleases

Darmstadt, Germany, Cambridge, UK and New York, USA, 3rd December 2020: Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company and Artios Pharma Limited (Artios), a leading DNA Damage Response (DDR) company developing a broad pipeline of precision medicines for the treatment of cancer, today announced a global three year strategic research collaboration to discover and develop multiple precision oncology drugs.

“Our platform has the potential to revolutionize targeted treatment in cancer and deliver on the promise of precision medicine. This collaboration will leverage the potential of our unique discovery platform of novel DNA repair nuclease inhibitors and targets that we have been developing. The partnership puts us in an exceptional position to focus internal efforts on our leading portfolio of assets which includes a small-molecule ATR inhibitor and a Polθ programme, both in candidate IND evaluation,” said Niall Martin, Chief Executive Officer at Artios Pharma.

“Targeting DNA damage response has the potential to provide an important therapeutic option for many patients in need of new treatments. We are excited about working with Artios to develop novel precision oncology medicines as we move towards changing the current paradigm in cancer treatment. This collaboration further strengthens our leadership and expertise in the field and discovery of DDR inhibitors and complements our multiple innovative assets currently being evaluated in several Phase I and Phase II clinical studies,” said Andree Blaukat, SVP and Head Translational Innovation Platform Oncology & Immuno-Oncology, at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.

Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will leverage Artios’s proprietary nuclease targeting discovery platform to jointly identify multiple synthetic lethal targets for precision oncology drug candidates. During this joint research collaboration, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany will contribute its significant expertise and resources in the field of DDR and will have exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize selected therapeutics discovered under the collaboration. The collaboration does not include Artios’s lead programmes, Polθ and ATR inhibitors, for which Artios will retain all rights.

Nucleases are critical enzymes involved in the maintenance of genomic integrity. Cancer cells are dependent on nucleases for their survival in response to DNA damage. Also, in certain cancers which exhibit mutations in DNA damage response pathways, inhibiting key nucleases can lead to selective cancer cell killing i.e. synthetic lethality.

As part of the agreement, Artios will receive a payment of US$30 million in the form of an up-front and near-term payments. If Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany chooses to exercise the option, subject to double-digit option fees, Artios will be eligible to receive up to US$860 million per target, in addition to up to double digit royalty payments on net sales of each product commercialized by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.

Subject to certain conditions, Artios has opt-in rights for joint development and commercialization with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany for the programmes.

For more information, please contact:

Artios Pharma Ltd.
Niall Martin, Chief Executive Officer
+44 01223 867 867

Media & IR Enquiries
Optimum Strategic Communications
Mary Clark/ Eva Haas/ Manel Mateus
artios@optimumcomms.com
+44 020 3922 1906

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
Gangolf Schrimpf, Media Relations
gangolf.schrimpf@merckgroup.com
+49 6151 72-9591

** Notes to Editors

About Artios Pharma Ltd.**

Artios is a leading DNA Damage Response (DDR) company focused on developing first-in-class treatments for cancer. The Company, founded by SV Health Investors in 2016, is led by an experienced scientific and leadership team with proven expertise in DDR drug discovery. It has a unique partnership with Cancer Research UK (CRUK), and collaborations with leading DNA repair researchers worldwide, such as The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London, the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) and the National Centre for Biomolecular Research at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic, with their expertise in DNA repair nucleases. Artios is building a pipeline of next-generation DDR programmes to target hard to treat cancers. It is backed by blue chip investors including: AbbVie Ventures, Andera Partners (formerly EdRIP), Arix Bioscience plc, IP Group plc, LSP, M Ventures, Novartis Venture Fund (NVF), Pfizer Ventures and SV Health Investors. Artios is based at the Babraham Research Campus in Cambridge, UK, with offices in New York City, USA.www.artiospharma.com

About Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, operates across healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 57,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people’s lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From advancing gene editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices – the company is everywhere. In 2019, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany generated sales of € 16.2 billion in 66 countries.

Scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany’s technological and scientific advances. This is how Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany has thrived since its founding in 1668. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany holds the global rights to the Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany operate as EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma in life science, and EMD Performance Materials.

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