- New investors, Andera Partners and Earlybird Venture Capital, join existing investor, Pureos Bioventures raising an additional EUR 22.75 million
- Funds will be used to advance clinical pipeline and further build Ariceum Therapeutics
- Olivier Litzka from Andera Partners and Christoph Massner from Earlybird Venture Capital to join the Ariceum non-executive Board of Directors
BERLIN, April 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Ariceum Therapeutics (Ariceum), a private biotech company developing radiopharmaceutical products for the diagnosis and treatment of certain hard-to-treat cancers, today announces the successful completion of a Series A extension financing, raising a further EUR 22.75 million, following the EUR 25 million Series A financing announced in June 2022. The financing was co-led by new investors Andera Partners and Earlybird Venture Capital, with participation from existing investor Pureos Bioventures, now doubling its original investment in the Company. As part of the investment, Olivier Litzka, Partner at Andera Partners, and Christoph Massner, Principal at Earlybird, will join the Ariceum Board of Directors.
Ariceum intends to use the proceeds from the financing to advance its clinical pipeline and to further build the Company focusing on its lead asset and proprietary peptide derivative, Satoreotide, as well as building a pipeline of further projects.
Satoreotide is a radiopharmaceutical drug and an antagonist of the somatostatin type 2 (SST2) receptor which is overexpressed in many cancers, including certain neuroendocrine and other aggressive, hard-to-treat cancers with poor prognoses such as small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Ariceum aims to use satoreotide as a ‘theranostic’ for both the diagnosis and treatment of tumours expressing the SST2 receptor. Satoreotide is in early clinical development and, as of today, has been administered to more than 100 patients including more than 150 therapeutic administrations in different indications.
Manfred Rüdiger, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Ariceum Therapeutics, said: “As we continue to make promising progress at Ariceum, the new funds will allow us to advance our clinical pipeline of diagnosis, monitoring and precision treatments to improve the lives of those facing very challenging cancers. The additional investment is a strong endorsement of our targeted radiotherapy product and reflects the opportunity that radiopharmaceutical drugs offer in visualizing and treating cancer. We are very pleased to welcome both Andera Partners and Earlybird Venture Capital to our investment syndicate and would like to thank our existing investors for their continued support.”
Olivier Litzka, PhD, Partner of Andera Partners, remarked: “At Andera we have been following the radiopharmaceuticals space for some time, looking for an opportunity to support a compelling project. As a result, we are now very happy to be able to back the talented and experienced team of Ariceum with a first clinical project centered around a meaningful disease application in Small Cell Lung Cancer. It is great to support the company in its bold ambition to build a pipeline of radiopharma projects through deals and partnerships. We are also joining an already powerful board of experts and strong European VCs. Altogether, we believe these are solid grounds to build a leading biotech company in the radiopharmaceuticals field.”
Christoph Massner, PhD, Principal of Earlybird Venture Capital, commented: “We are delighted to support Ariceum as it advances its proprietary clinical programs to address aggressive cancers with a poor prognosis. Earlybird is especially excited about Ariceum’s ability to stratify patients for treatment via its theranostics approach. This will provide the best possible patient outcomes and attractive health economics. I look forward to working with Ariceum’s experienced management team and strong investor base as it enters its next development stage.”
About Ariceum Therapeutics
Ariceum Therapeutics (Ariceum) is a private, clinical stage radiopharmaceutical company focused on the diagnosis and precision treatment of certain neuroendocrine and other aggressive, hard-to-treat cancers. The name Ariceum is an anagram of ‘Marie Curie’ whose discovery of radium and polonium have been huge contributions to finding treatments for cancer. Ariceum’s lead targeted systemic radiopharmaceutical product, 177Lu-satoreotide tetraxetan (“satoreotide”) is an antagonist of the somatostatin type 2 (SST2) receptor which is overexpressed in neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) and some aggressive cancers such as small cell lung cancer (SCLC), all of which have few treatment options and poor prognosis. Satoreotide is being developed as a ‘theranostic’ pair for the combined diagnosis and targeted radionuclide treatment of these tumours.
Ariceum Therapeutics, launched in 2021, acquiring all rights from Ipsen. Ipsen remains a shareholder in the Company. Ariceum is headquartered in Berlin, with operations in Germany, Australia and Switzerland and activities currently across Europe, North America and Australia.
Ariceum is led by a highly experienced management team and supported by specialist investors including EQT Life Sciences (formerly LSP), HealthCap, Pureos Bioventures, Andera Partners and Earlybird Venture Capital. For further information, please visit www.ariceum-therapeutics.com
About Andera Partners
Created over 20 years ago, Andera Partners is a major player in private company investments in France and internationally. Its teams manage over €3.8 billion in investments in life sciences (Andera Life Sciences), growth and buyout capital (Andera MidCap, Andera Expansion, Andera Croissance, Andera Co-Invest), sponsorless transactions (Andera Acto) and ecological transition (Andera Infra).
Based in Paris, with offices in Antwerp, Milan, and Munich, Andera Partners is wholly owned by its teams, which count nearly 100 professionals, of which 60 are investment professionals. It is structured as a partnership and managed by a board of 12 partners. Responsible and committed, the management company regularly forms partnerships with non-profit sector entities and takes concrete action in the fight against global warming.
Andera’s 15-person life sciences team brings together extensive experience in the life sciences industry, private equity and venture capital. Active since 2000, the team has raised over €1.1 billion through its BioDiscovery family of funds and is currently investing from its new BioDiscovery 6 fund. Since inception, the BioDiscovery funds have invested in more than 75 European and U.S. biotech and medtech companies. Further information: www.anderapartners.com.
About Earlybird Venture Capital
Earlybird Venture Capital focuses on European technology companies. Founded in 1997, Earlybird identifies and backs exceptional early-stage companies on a pan-European basis and supports them through their growth and development phases – providing financial resources, strategic support, plus access to an international network and capital markets. Earlybird invests out of a family of independently-managed funds. Flagship funds with early-stage focus include Digital West (Western Europe), Digital East (Emerging Europe), and Health. Newer funds Earlybird-X (pre-seed in Western Europe & university spinoffs) and Growth Opportunities (a pan-Earlybird growth fund) offer even more agility. With EUR 2 billion under management across all fund streams, 9 IPOs, and 31 trade sales, Earlybird is one of Europe’s most established and active venture capital firms. More information on www.earlybird.com, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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