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Pharma Connect Capital invests in Sabiad

PERSBERICHT

8 januari 2024

Sabiad, innovator in bacteriële Beeldvorming, verwerft investering van Pharma Connect Capital voor pionierswerk in Staphylococcus Aureus beeldvorming

Sabiad, een baanbrekende start-up in Heerenveen, kondigt met genoegen aan dat het aanzienlijke investeringssteun heeft ontvangen van Pharma Connect Capital (PCC). Deze financiering zal de lancering van hun grensverleggende initiatief ondersteunen. Het project, in samenwerking met het Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen (UMCG), is gericht op het ontwikkelen van een antilichaam dat de detectie en beeldvorming van Staphylococcus aureus-infecties – een aanzienlijke uitdaging, vooral na orthopedische implantaties zoals heup- en knieprotheses – mogelijk maakt.

De bacterie Staphylococcus aureus, verantwoordelijk voor ernstige postoperatieve complicaties, geeft symptomen die vaak moeilijk te onderscheiden zijn van normale immuunreacties, wat resulteert in late diagnoses en vertraagde behandelingen met potentieel ernstige gevolgen voor patiënten.

Met behulp van een door Professor Jan Maarten van Dijl (microbioloog) van het UMCG uitgevonden antilichaam kan snelle opsporing en visualisatie van de bacterie door middel van bacteriële beeldvormingstechnieken worden gerealiseerd, wat tijdige diagnostiek en behandeling mogelijk maakt. Sabiad werkt tevens intensief samen met Professor Paul Jutte (orthopeed), die de eerste klinische studie zal leiden.

Jan Hendriks van Pharma Connect Capital, licht toe: “Sabiad’s initiatief en de bijdrage van het UMCG sluiten naadloos aan bij de missie van PCC. Wij zijn verheugd een bijdrage te kunnen leveren aan deze volgende ontwikkelingsfase die nu in Noord- Nederland tot stand komt. De vooruitzichten voor patiënten door de nieuw te ontwikkelen diagnostiek zijn veelbelovend.”

Ton van den Hoven, medeoprichter van Sabiad, voegt hieraan toe: “De investering van PCC is van cruciaal belang voor ons. Hun kennis en uitgebreid netwerk zijn van onschatbare waarde voor de voortgang van vroege ontwikkelingen. Dankzij deze financiering kan Sabiad beginnen met het onderzoeken van de eerste patiënten in een onderzoeksomgeving, waardoor we ons kunnen voorbereiden op verdere klinische studies en productoptimalisatie voor grootschalige implementatie.”

Voor aanvullende informatie kunt u contact opnemen met Ton van den Hoven via ton@sabiad.eu.

September 2022: University of Groningen participates in Pharma Connect Capital

University of Groningen has joined Pharma Connect Capital as a shareholder. The RUG Houdstermaatschappij, a department of the University of Groningen with the mission to support scientists in the process of starting a business, has made an investment in Pharma Connect Capital. This investment reflects the expectation of the RUG that several researchers at the RUG  have the ambition to start up pharma companies in the near future. It also reflects the vision of RUG that sharing forces with the current shareholders and management of Pharma Connect Capital is the best way to facilitate future pharma start up in the northern part of The Netherlands.  Management and current shareholders of Pharma Connect Capital very much welcome the support and participation of the University of Groningen.

More info: www.rugholding.nl

Griphingo and partners receive investment for innovative inhalation therapy

The Groninger Griphingo Pharmaceuticals, a spin-off of the University of Groningen, has received investments to do more research into the development of an innovative inhalation therapy for COPD patients. Read more in the article below (in Dutch).

Voor de ontwikkeling van deze therapie gaat de start-up samenwerken met een netwerk van experts op het gebied van COPD en geneesmiddelenontwikkeling uit de noordelijke regio. De start-up is een initiatief van Martijn en Winant Zwinderman en komt voort uit Martijn’s promotieonderzoek aan het Groningen Research Institute of Pharmacy. Onder leiding van Professor Farmaceutische Epigenetica, Frank Dekker, ontdekte Zwinderman een innovatief werkingsmechanisme voor de aanpak van COPD. Met de innovatieve inhalatietherapie wil Griphingo de kwaliteit van leven van miljoenen COPD patiënten in de toekomst verbeteren.

Verbeterde werking en minder bijwerkingen

Martijn Zwinderman, oprichter en CEO Griphingo: “De huidige behandeling van COPD werkt onvoldoende om de ontstekingsreacties in de longen van COPD patiënten te onderdrukken en heeft bovendien veel bijwerkingen. Wij hopen met ons nieuwe molecuul, dat een alternatief aangrijpingspunt heeft in vergelijking met bestaande middelen, deze ontstekingsreacties te beteugelen om zodoende de kwaliteit van leven van de COPD patiënt aanzienlijk te verhogen”.

Ontwikkeling in samenwerking met partners uit het noordelijk ecosysteem

Pharma Portal heeft Griphingo het afgelopen jaar ondersteuning geboden bij het vormen van het ontwikkelplan. En niet zonder succes, want Griphingo heeft inmiddels een omvangrijke financiering van investeringsfonds Pharma Connect Capital en een forse subsidie vanuit het REACT-EU fonds en het Ministerie van Economische Zaken en Klimaat ontvangen van SNN. Zodoende kan Griphingo nu starten met de ontwikkeling van de innovatieve inhalatietherapie in samenwerking met experts op het gebied van COPD en geneesmiddelenontwikkeling uit de noordelijke regio en het LIFE Cooperative ecosysteem.

Business Generator Groningen ondersteunt Griphingo bij het verkrijgen van een patent om de therapie exclusief te mogen ontwikkelen. Tevens biedt de Business Generator ondersteuning bij het verkrijgen van verdere financiering.

Griphingo richt zich de komende periode op het optimaliseren van de moleculen in samenwerking met Symeres en het testen van de werkzaamheid in samenwerking met Aquilo.

Pharma Connect Capital invests in Hercules Pharmaceuticals B.V.

Groningen-based investment fund Pharma Connect Capital today announced it has made an investment in Hercules Pharmaceuticals B.V., a biopharmaceutical company focusing on the development of novel therapies for treatment of viral diseases as well as specific cancers.

This investment will enable Hercules to discover and develop more potent second generation AhR inhibitors, building on its experiences with its first generation AhR inhibitor HP163. Groningen based MercachemSyncom will be the chemical development partner for the execution of this research.

AhR-inhibitors

AhR-inhibitors are known for enhancing the immune system in the tumor microenvironment and might therefor play an important role in the treatment of cancers such as breast cancer and other solid tumors. Recently, it was also discovered that inhibiting AhR with Hercules’ HP163 could reduce viral replication in animals infected with ZIKA-virus and that the same mechanism may apply to reduce replication of Covid-19 virus. Hercules will start a special research program to investigate the potential of its AhR-inhibitors for treatment of Covid-19 infections. For this program, Hercules has received a grant from SNN (Samenwerkingsverband Noord Nederland).

Groningen welcomes Hercules
Due to the investment of Pharma Connect Capital and the grant of SNN, Hercules will move it’s operations to Groningen where it will further enrich the life sciences cluster of Groningen where it will get access to the well developed knowledge and sophisticated facilities of Innolab.

Pharma Connect Capital B.V.  (www.pharmaconnectcapital.com) is an investment fund that finances early stage drug development. The fund is an initiative of Investerings Fonds Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen and the Noordelijke Ontwikkelings Maatschappij (NOM) and was launched in October 2017. More details about Hercules Pharmaceuticals can be found at www.hercules-pharma.nl.

Symposium Translating Science into Innovative Treatment

Every day, scientific innovations occur at the UMCG, University of Groningen and Hanze University as well as at life sciences companies in our region. Innovations that have the potential to evolve to new innovative treatments, but may never reach that stage because the innovator doesn’t know about the possibilities or how to get there.

To support innovators to translate their science into innovative treatment, an initiative was launched offering both financial funding (Pharma Connect Capital) and industrial-style support (Pharma Portal) to scientists who have an idea on developing their innovation towards new pharmaceutical treatments or diagnostic tools.

Sign up via www.campus.groningen.nl/symposium 

Program

Chaired by
– Folkert Kuipers, UMCG

Introduction
– 
Marian Joëls, UMCG

Learn from:

  • Ben Feringa, David Kijlstra (Lumento Therapeutics): Shining light on the development of a new class of cancer therapeutics
  • Reinier Schwietert, Marieke Bolling (Philae Pharmaceuticals): Much-needed treatment for Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB)
  • Jan Hendriks (Pharma Connect Capital): Financial investment in early stage drug development plans
  • Martin Smit (Pharma Portal): Creating feasible plans ready for investment

Pharma Connect Capital invests in Philae Pharmaceuticals

The Groningen-based investment fund Pharma Connect Capital today announced it has made an investment in Philae Pharmaceuticals, a dermatology spin-off company from the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG). This investment will enable Philae Pharmaceuticals to start the development of targeted therapies for severe and difficult-to-treat dermatological diseases.

Working on a treatment for Butterfly Children
The initial disease Philae will focus on is Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), a very rare but lethal disease for which currently no treatment or cure exists. Patients with EB are known as Butterfly Children because their skin is as vulnerable as the wings of a butterfly. Even the slightest contact or friction can easily tear or blister their skin.

About Philae Pharmaceuticals
Philae Pharmaceuticals (www.philae-pharma.com) is an initiative of late professor Marcel Jonkman, former chairman of the Dermatology Department of UMCG, emeritus chemistry professor Dick Kellogg and pharmacologist Dr. Reinier Schwietert.

About Pharma Connect Capital
Pharma Connect Capital (www.pharmaconnectcapital.com ) is an investment fund that finances early stage drug development. The fund is an initiative of Investerings Fonds Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen and the Noordelijke Ontwikkelings Maatschappij (NOM) and was launched in October 2017.

 

February 2019: Pharma Connect Capital invests in BiOrion.

Pharma Connect Capital has made an investment in Groningen based BiOrion, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in developing targeted therapeutics and companion imaging diagnostics for fibrotic diseases. With the investment of Pharma Connect Capital, Biorion is funded  to develop a PET-imaging diagnostic for NASH/liver fibrosis and a combined PET-imaging diagnostic and targeted radiotherapeutic for metastatic colon cancer.

July 2018: Ir. G.J. Smidfonds participates in Pharma Connect Capital.

Ir. G.J. Smidfonds has joined Pharma Connect Capital as a shareholder. The Smid foundation has a mission to support innovative industrial developments, in order to promote and improve business activities and employment in the Northern Netherlands. Management and current shareholders of Pharma Connect Capital very much welcome the support and participation of Smid Fonds, which has increased the total available capital of Pharma Connect Capital to € 8.5 million.

More info: G.J. Smidfonds 

Unique Northern approach to developing new drugs

‘In the field of drug development we have something very special in the Northern Netherlands,’ said Deputy Patrick Brouns at the launch of the “Pharma Portal” and the fund “Pharma Connect Capital” on October 12th. By combining regional strong expertise in the Pharma Portal and risk capital in Pharma Connect Capital, Groningen’s strength in developing new drugs is accelerated, which will boost the improvement of healthcare globally.

The combination of the Pharma Portal and Pharma Connect Capital, in which investors, academic organizations and companies work closely together is unique in the Netherlands. Within the Portal and the fund knowledge and risk investments are connected seamlessly. “For a non-Groninger, I always find it striking to see how people in the Northern Netherlands look for inter-connection,” said Ton Rijnders, national figure for drug development and chairman of the new pharma fund investment board.

Cooperation and interaction with Campus Groningen

Ton Vries, chairman of the LifeCooperative and one of the frontrunners, confirms Ton Rijnders’s statement. “It is about the collaboration and the mutual trust. From this trust, the first idea emerged from which Pharma Portal and Pharma Connect Capital have grown. This success is due to the close collaboration within the LifeCooperative and the interaction with Campus Groningen. A success we are proud of and where we expect a lot from.”

Pharma Connect Capital; Investing in early phase initiatives

With the launch of Pharma Connect Capital, initially €8 million will be available to invest in the early and financially most risky stages of drug development. Herewith, fund manager Jan Hendriks expects to support multiple initiatives: “We will invest in the start of various companies, and if they prove successful, we will also be able to co-finance in their growth.”

Pharma Portal; Promising initiatives

In order to let the number of high-quality initiatives grow, a strong link has been established with the new Pharma Portal. Within the portal, young pharmaceutical initiatives are accompanied and accelerated. The portal serves as a quality system and quality mark. The Pharma Portal adds expertise based on long-term experience in the international pharma industry. The concepts are independently assessed on content and commercial potential. This is the first cornerstone of an ecosystem with promising initiatives. Ready to be invested in.