- PKA pension fund lead investment, alongside The Danish Growth Fund and Eir Ventures
- New financing will advance clinical trials with Synklino's drug candidate SYN002 for the treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV)
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, June 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Synklino, an emerging biotech company developing breakthrough drugs for the treatment of chronic viral infections, has completed a Series A fundraise of EUR 29.8 million(DKK 222 million / USD 31.9 million) accelerating its development plans towards significant clinical milestones.
With the capital raised, Synklino will advance its drug candidate SYN002 for the treatment of Cytomegalovirus (CMV), into both ex vivo and in vivo Phase 1 clinical trials and generate safety and efficacy data establishing a solid foundation for expanding the Company's pipeline, and widening the strategic options for further value creation.
CMV is the main agent involved in infectious complications following transplantation, with major risk for morbidity and increased hospital readmissions and is prevalent in around 60% of adults. Synklino's drug candidate SYN002 has the unique potential to eliminate CMV from infected patients by targeting both lytic and latent infection.
Thomas Kledal, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, said: "This financing round is a game changer for Synklino. We are now able to prepare and initiate clinical trials with SYN002 in organs and in patients concurrently, providing more paths to reach significant and value creating milestones in a shorter timeline. Since the capital raise in November 2021, we have had strong progress in our preclinical activities and are on track to deliver on our goal for the first half of 2023 of completing our clinical trial application."
John Haurum, Chair of the Board, commented: "It is a validation of Synklino's potential that the company attracts notable investors like PKA and Maj Invest. We are also thankful for the continued support from our existing shareholders, including The Danish Growth Fund and Eir Ventures. The company's management has delivered as promised on the development plans, and the strong cash position means that we can focus on the business in an otherwise challenging market for biotech and funding."
Synklino's Series A raise is testament to the high caliber of innovative biotech companies emerging from the Nordic region and the confidence of investors in identifying promising new therapies for patients. Synklino is a result of Denmark's strong global position in the biotech industry, characterised by tight cooperation between health care institutions, academia, and the industry.
Michael Nellemann Pedersen, Chief Investment Officer in PKA, stated: "Synklino is a great example of the type of life science companies that we aim to support through our co-investments with Maj Invest. Being a pension fund for hundreds of thousands of health care professionals, we have an ambition to contribute to the development of innovative products supporting our members' efforts to safe lives while at the same time expecting the investment to generate a high return and contribute to the pension savings of our members. We believe, Synklino will address a large, unmet patient need and with a competent leadership in front, the company fits perfectly into our evolving portfolio of venture companies."
About Synklino
Synklino is a Danish biotech company developing groundbreaking therapies against chronic viral infections. The company is owned by renowned Nordic funds and institutional investors Eir Ventures, The Danish Growth Fund and PKA as well as approximately 70 private shareholders. Synklino's first-in-class drug candidate SYN002 specifically targets cytomegalovirus infection in transplantation patients and aims to change the current antiviral treatment paradigm by providing radically different therapeutic opportunities and a path for transplant recipients to live a full life again.
Synklino is a spinout from the University of Copenhagen and the Technical University of Denmark established to develop groundbreaking therapies against devastating viral infections. Synklino is incubated at the BioInnovation Institute in its prestigious Creation House program.
Read more at synklino.com
About PKA pension fund
PKA is the pension fund administration of four Danish pension funds with a total of 350,000 members mainly from social services and health care. PKA has approximately EUR 54 billion in assets under management covering many geographies and diverse asset types, such as listed equities, bonds, private equity, infrastructure, and real estate.
About Maj Invest
Maj Invest is one of Denmark's leading asset management companies, primarily serving institutional clients. The Maj Invest group was established in 2005 and has two business areas, Asset Management and Private Equity. Asset Management has total assets under management of approx. EUR 15 billion. Maj Invest Equity is Denmark's largest investor in small and medium-sized companies. In Private Equity, Maj Invest advises private equity funds on their investments in Danish companies and also private equity funds on their investments in international companies. The committed capital of the private equity funds amounted to approx. EUR 1.5 billion at year-end 2021.
About The Danish Growth Fund
Vaeksfonden is the Danish state's investment fund. Working in close collaboration with banks and domestic and international investors, Vaekstfonden discovers and develops high-quality technological companies in Denmark. The power of innovation, yield to society and responsibility are the three signposts that guide Vaekstfonden in finding and choosing new projects. Since 1992, Vaekstfonden has contributed more than DKK 42 billion to help develop and grow more than 11.000 companies. https://vf.dk
About Eir Ventures
Eir Ventures is a Life science focused venture fund, that with a strong foundation in the Nordic Biotech ecosystem will invest in early stage as well as more mature opportunities. The fund initiates investment activities in 2020 and will seek opportunities addressing significant unmet medical needs for new therapies, medical technology, and digital health. Eir Ventures is founded by a team of experienced life science investors, and backed by a strong investor syndicate comprising Saminvest, the European Investment Fund (EIF), Vækstfonden, Novo Holdings, as well as additional private investors. Eir Ventures I AB is a registered alternative investment fund, under the Swedish Alternative Investment Funds Managers Act.
https://eirventures.eu/
About Cytomegalovirus (CMV)
Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a ß-herpes virus. CMV is a widespread, chronic viral infection found in more than 60% of adults worldwide. Initial infection in otherwise healthy immunocompetent individuals results in productive (lytic) infection and is almost always asymptomatic. Like all other herpes viruses, CMV establishes lifelong latent infection and incorporates its DNA into host cells. CMV reactivation from latency is a serious issue in transplant patients due to the need for concomitant immunosuppressive therapy. Active infection and accumulation of a high virus load in immunosuppressed patients leads to a variety of CMV diseases, including organ rejection, developmental and neurological complications, and can be fatal. CMV has a major impact on morbidity and mortality during transplantation and increases transplant costs by up to 50% due to long-term hospitalizations and difficult courses of treatment. The treatment of CMV therefore represents a large unmet medical need. No currently marketed or pipeline drugs can cure CMV, and current drugs pose a risk of developing resistance.
