The Belgian biotech Agomab Therapeutics announced this morning the closing of an investment round of 100 million euros led by large financial groups such as Fidelity, KKR, EQT Life Sciences or Canaan in which the Catalan fund Sabadell Asabys also participates, which was already in the shareholding.
The round represents a boost for the Spanish biotechnology sector because it will be mainly used to finance phase 2 clinical trials of a drug called AGMB-129, from Origo Biopharma, a Galician-Catalan biotech that was acquired by Agomab in 2021.
For this reason, the group, based in Ghent, also has part of its chemical research team in Touro (Galicia) and in Barcelona, ??where the R&D operations management is located, headed by Ramon Bosser, co-founder and former general director of Origo.
Clara Campàs, partner at Asabys, explained that the drug developed by Agomab treats fibrotic stenosis, a complication suffered by up to 50% of patients with Crohn’s disease for which there are no treatments. For this reason, the US pharmaceutical authority, the FDA, included it among its “Fast Track” medications to accelerate its release to the market. Agomab also has other medications under investigation for pulmonary fibrosis that also come from Origo’s R&D.
Tim Knotnerus, CEO of Agomab, highlighted in a statement that “with the incorporation of these world-renowned investors we continue to consolidate the company as a leader in the field of fibrosis.” The Belgian company already had companies such as Pfizer, Pontifax, Redmile, Cormorant, Andera Partners, AdBio and Walleye in its shareholders.
According to Campàs, the high amount of the round as well as the marked financial nature of the investors “opens up a large number of options for the company’s future”, which can range from an IPO to an acquisition by a large pharmaceutical company.
Campàs acknowledged that the situation in the financial markets is complex “and very different from that of three years ago: it is difficult to find capital, but it is still possible to finance good products, as we have seen with Agomab.” All in all, “the situation has improved after the summer and we hope that next year it will normalize.”
Asabys, a venture capital manager specialized in health, founded by Josep Sanfeliu and Clara Campàs, has 217 million euros in assets under management and 15 investees. The manager has Alantra as a shareholder and Banc Sabadell as an anchor investor.
