Rewind Therapeutics Secures 15.2 M EURO to Develop Novel Remyelination Therapies

LEUVEN, Belgium, January 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Rewind Therapeutics, a privately held Belgian biotech company, today announced the completion of a €15.2 million Series A financing to develop novel re-myelinating therapies for patients suffering from Multiple Sclerosis and other myelin-related diseases. The round was led by life science investors Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF), Merck Ventures BV (MV) and Participatiemaatschappij Vlaanderen (PMV), together with KU Leuven's Centre for Drug Design and Discovery (CD3) and KU Leuven Gemma Frisius Fonds (GFF).

The company will use the proceeds of the €15.2million series A round to bring their proprietary first small molecule product to the clinic and to further expand their pipeline of novel drug candidates targeting myelin disorders.

Rewind Therapeutics is founded by CD3 (Leuven, Belgium) and Axxam S.p.A. (Milano, Italy). In close collaboration with both organizations and a world-class academic network, Rewind Therapeutics aspires to advance innovative first-in-class therapies for myelin-related diseases into fast track clinical application.

About BIVF: 

Created in 2010, the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund GmbH invests in groundbreaking therapeutics-focused biotechnology companies to drive innovation in biomedical research. BIVF is searching for significant enhancements in patient care through pioneering science and its clinical translation by building long-term relationships with scientists and entrepreneurs. BIVF's focus is to target unprecedented therapeutic concepts addressing high medical needs in immuno-oncology, in regenerative medicine or gene therapy. These may include novel platform technologies to address so far undruggable targets, new generation vaccines and/or new biological entities, such as oncolytic virotherapy. BIVF takes an active role with its portfolio companies - delivering significant added value through its own extensive drug discovery, scientific and managerial expertise. BIVF has €200 million under management and currently supervises a portfolio of more than 20 companies. For more information, please visit http://www.boehringer-ingelheim-venture.com.

About MV: 

Merck Ventures is the strategic, corporate venture capital arm of Merck. Its mandate is to invest in innovative technologies and products with the potential to significantly impact Mercks core business areas. From our headquarters in Amsterdam (Netherlands) and offices in the US and Israel we invest globally in transformational ideas driven by great entrepreneurs. Merck Ventures takes an active role in its portfolio companies and teams up with entrepreneurs and co-investors to translate innovation towards commercial success. Merck Ventures has a significant focus on early-stage investing and company creation including the creation of spin-offs to leverage Mercks science and technology base. For more information, please visit http://www.merck-ventures.com.

About PMV: 

PMV is an investment company that shapes the economic future of Flanders by financing promising companies from the very start to growth and internationalization. With over 1 billion euros in assets under management and led by experienced professionals, PMV offers tailor-made financial solutions for entrepreneurs with a solid business plan and a strong management team, including venture capital, loans and guarantees. More info about PMV can be found on http://www.pmv.eu.

About Axxam: 

Axxam is an innovative Partner Research Organization (iPRO). Axxam is a leading provider of integrated discovery services across Life Sciences industries including: pharmaceuticals, crop protection, animal health, cosmetics, fragrances, food and beverages. Axxam is also engaged in alliance-based research towards innovative small molecule therapies for diseases with a high unmet medical need. Axxam's business terms are flexible, ranging from fee-for-service to risk-sharing deal structures. For more information, please visit  http://www.axxam.com

About CD3: 

The Centre for Drug Design and Discovery ("CD3") was established in 2006 by KU Leuven Research and Development (LRD) and the European Investment Fund (EIF). CD3 is an investment fund and independent translational platform within KU Leuven R&D. CD3 focuses on the discovery, development and transfer of new innovative small molecule drugs based on excellent academic biomedical research. CD3 has raised over EUR90m and has successfully partnered several of its programs to Pharma or incorporated in spin-offs. For more information, please visit: http://www.cd3.eu/.

About GFF: 

Gemma Frisius Fund (GFF) is a seed capital fund, established in 1997 as a joint venture between KU Leuven, KBC Private Equity and BNP Paribas Fortis Private Equity. It combines the research and technology transfer expertise of the university with the financial and investment expertise of the two financial partners. GFF provides seed capital in the early development phases of innovative, research-based spin-off companies originating from all technology domains and provides support in their further growth process. http://lrd.kuleuven.be/en/spinoff/gemma-frisius-fund.  

SOURCE Rewind Therapeutics