Palobiofarma has closed a seven-million-euro investment round led by Inveready, through the Inveready Biotech IV fund, the public company Sodena and the company's founders.
The investment will be used to complete three phase II clinical trials in which the efficacy of its most advanced products is being studied, namely PBF-680 in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, PBF-999 in patients with Prader-Willi syndrome and PBF-1129 in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Additionally, through this operation, the Fitalent fund, owned by NTT Data, exits the company's shareholding.
The Navarre-based biotechnology company, promoted and directed by Julio Castro (PhD), is focused on the discovery and development of new drugs based on the modulation of adenosine receptors and has one of the most robust pipelines in the sector, with six products in clinical development.
This new round of funding, which could be completed with an additional €5 million from the acceleration fund managed by the European Innovation Council (EIC Accelerator), together with other lines of public funding, is supported by the same participants who materialized the initial phases of the company. Thanks to the continued support of Inveready and Sodena, Palobiofarma has become the start-up with the broadest clinical pipeline in Spain, financed basically through licensing agreements such as the one the company signed in 2015 with the Swiss multinational Novartis, which also served to distribute significant dividends to shareholders. With this new injection of resources, the company expects to reach new licensing agreements with its assets in more advanced stages of development once their clinical efficacy has been demonstrated.
"From Inveready we are delighted to continue supporting Palobiofarma and its team, who have proven to be able to reach multiple innovative drugs to the clinic and reach licensing agreements with one of the largest pharmaceutical companies. With this round we seek to continue adding success to the company," says Josep Maria Echarri, Executive Chairman of the Inveready Group.
For Iñaki Larraya, managing director of Sodena, "Palobiofarma is a great example of a Navarrese company in the health sector, dedicated to the research and development of drugs, which collaborates closely with the Navarrese health ecosystem. It is also an example of success since the support of Sodena allowed this biotechnology company to form a team of professionals in Navarra who, with their knowledge and effort, have been able to create value by generating a pipeline that arouses interest in the pharmaceutical sector and that positions Navarra at the forefront of knowledge and international biotechnological development".
"We are especially happy with the closing of this financing round, because we know that it has bee achieved achieved in a context that is not favorable for investment in biotechnology companies. Once again, we would like to thank our long-standing partners Inveready and Sodena for their trust. I think Palobiofarma has shown in the past that the quality of its team and its projects can lead to great licensing agreements, and I am sure that we will prove it again in the future," says Julio Castro, founder and CEO of Palobiofarma
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