Munich (Germany), March 02, 2015: ImevaX GmbH, a specialist in vaccines against pathogens of chronic infectious diseases, especially in H. pylori infections, announced today that KfW has joined the company’s 2014 Series A investor syndicate through a second closing of the financing.
The KfW investment is based on the ERP Start Fund. This Fund provides private equity for young, innovative and technology-based companies with particular growth opportunities. Not only are research and product development projects financed, but also the market launch of new products, processes and services. The investments are provided in conjunction with a lead investor on market conditions.
ImevaX completed the first closing of its Series A financing at EUR 7.5 million in October 2014, led by Wellington Partners. Co-lead investors in the first closing were BioMedPartners from the BioMedInvest-II LP fund, EMBL Ventures and Santo Venture Capital. ImevaX is a 2014 spin-out from the Technische Universität München (TUM) and was awarded a EUR 5.9 million financing from the GO-Bio Phase II program of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in September 2014.
The funds are being used to advance lead candidate IMX101 through clinical trials before licensing. IMX101 is a highly specific vaccine against Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). Chronic H. pylori infections of the stomach are the most common bacterial infections worldwide and lead to gastritis, stomach ulcers and potentially stomach cancer. Due to the high global infection rate and the decreasing efficacy of existing antibiotics against H. pylori plus the poor safety profile of these treatments, there exists a high medical need and a significant commercial interest in a H. pylori vaccine.
Volker Wedershoven, Chief Executive Officer of ImevaX GmbH, commented: “We are pleased that with KfW another experienced investor has joined the consortium of life science investors who support us in developing our pipeline of novel treatments to help fight the consequences of infectious diseases. The financing is an essential contribution to the development of our lead candidate IMX101 through first clinical proof of efficacy studies and potentially into partnering discussions.”
About ImevaX:
ImevaX is a biopharmaceutical company founded in 2014 based in Munich, Germany. The focus is to combat chronic and nosocomial infections by creating specific vaccines. The company’s lead candidate IMX101 is a vaccine against Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), which colonizes the stomach and is the cause of ulcer disease and gastric cancer in humans. Founder Markus Gerhard and his team discovered that the colonization ability (and hence, the infectiousness) of H. pylori depends on a secreted bacterial factor that down-regulates the host immune system. Many other highly infectious pathogens have evolved similar immune evasion mechanisms, which are the focus of the ImevaX screening program. For more information please visit: www.imevax.com
About KfW:
Since its foundation in 1948, KfW has become one of the World’s leading promotional banks. KfW Group supports change and encourages forward-looking ideas in Germany, Europe and throughout the world. In 2014, KfW Group committed to a total EUR 74.1 billion of investments, focusing mainly on small and medium-sized businesses, environmental and climate protection. For more information please visit: https://www.kfw.de/kfw.de-2.html For further information, please contact:
Volker Wedershoven
Chief Executive Officer
ImevaX GmbH
Tel: +49 (0) 89 41 424 55 0
Email: volker.wedershoven@imevax.com
Katja Arnold (CIRO)
Executive Director
MC Services AG
Tel: +49 (0) 89 210 228 40
Email: katja.arnold@mc-services.eu
Help employers find you! Check out all the jobs and post your resume.
