The Roca family, owner of the Roca Radiadores group, has entered the capital of the biotech company AbilityPharma, within the framework of a round of 7 million euros led by the Canadian fund CTI Life Sciences and the EIC fund of the European Union, in the The Catalan manager Inveready, the CDTI, Fitalent and the founders themselves also participate. The Roca family has entered the capital of the company, which is researching an anti-tumor drug, through the holding companies Ivamosa and Gesamo, which also channel its participation in Roca Radiadores.
Carles Domènech, founder and CEO of AbilityPharma, explains that the round is a success for the company “at a time when it is very difficult to obtain financing.” The biotech, explains Domènech, had planned to list on Euronext Growth in 2022, and had to give up as a result of the financial crisis unleashed by the invasion of Ukraine. Ability planned to launch an IPO for 35 million euros, and has overcome the lack of these funds by focusing the development of its drug, called ABTL0812, on metastatic pancreatic cancer, despite the fact that it had very promising results in lung and endometrial cancer, because it has managed to be designated an orphan drug by the EU and the US.
Thus, explains Domènech, the European EIC fund has provided the company with 2.5 million euros in subsidy and another 2.8 million in share capital, while the FDA has contributed 1.9 million dollars.
This round will allow AbilityPharma to finance phase 2b of its clinical trial, in which 140 patients will participate in 23 hospitals in Spain, the United States, France and Israel. The company expects to have the results at the end of the year.
AbilityPharma, based in Cerdanyola del Vallès, has a staff of 12 and with CTI Life Sciences opens its capital to an international fund for the first time.