ProFibrix Raises US $11 Million (EUR 8 million) in Series B Financing
LEIDEN, The Netherlands and SEATTLE, August 24 -- ProFibrix B.V., a leader in the development of innovative products for hemostasis and regenerative medicine, today announced the successful closing of a US $11 million series B investment. The financing round was led by new investor Gilde Healthcare Partners, a leading European life sciences investor, who joins existing investor Index Ventures. Dirk Kersten from Gilde will join the company's Supervisory Board.
Jaap Koopman, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, said: "We are very pleased to welcome Gilde Healthcare to our investor base and we appreciate the ongoing support and expertise that our investors can offer to our experienced team as we continue the development of ProFibrix. The proceeds of the financing will be applied to the ongoing clinical development of our lead product Fibrocaps(TM), and to the preclinical development of our pipeline products."
Fibrocaps is based on a mixture of two essential blood clotting proteins, fibrinogen and thrombin, and is a unique dry powder topical tissue sealant that rapidly stops bleeding after or during surgery. Fibrocaps has major advantages over existing liquid tissue sealants: it is ready for immediate use, is stable at room temperature, highly effective and fast acting. Fibrocaps is currently in a Phase II clinical trial in the Netherlands with results expected end of 2009.
Dirk Kersten, investment manager at Gilde Healthcare Partners, commented: "Gilde Healthcare Partners invests in biopharmaceutical companies with strong technology platforms and experienced management. We believe ProFibrix' breakthrough fibrinogen technology is well-positioned to play an important role in the highly attractive hemostasis and regenerative medicine markets."
ProFibrix expects to submit an Investigational New Drug Application (IND) for Fibrocaps to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the first half of 2010, and to conduct a combined phase II/III pivotal study in various surgical indications.
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