Industrifonden invests in Athera Biotechnologies
Industrifonden invests 11 million SEK in Swedish Life Science company Athera Biotechnologies AB. Athera Biotechnologies AB is a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on developing a new antibody against cardiovascular diseases.
Industrifonden participates in the 24 million SEK financing round led by Industrifonden, Östersjöstiftelsen and Linc Invest. The proceeds will be used to finance further clinical development of Athera’s lead project PC-mAb, currently in clinical Phase I studies, to become a Phase 2-ready project. PC-mAb provides an opportunity to address the need for improved secondary prevention after revascularization in severe peripheral artery disease (PAD) patients and reduce the associated risks for complications and new cardiovascular disease (CVD) events.
Dr. Jonas Brambeck, Investment Manager at Industrifonden, will join the Board of Directors. “Athera’s candidate drug addresses important unmet medical need in cardiovascular disease and implies an investment opportunity with great potential”, says Jonas.
“This marks the beginning of an exciting period for Athera, securing the necessary funding for completing the Phase 1 study in patients and prepare for Phase 2 studies with our fully human antibody PC-mAb,”, says Athera CEO Carina Schmidt.
For more information, contact
Jonas Brambeck, Investment Manager, Industrifonden
Phone: +46 (0)70 879 19 37
Email: jonas.brambeck@industrifonden.se
Carina Schmidt, CEO, Athera Biotechnologies AB
Phone: +46 (0)76 1938 190,
Email: c.schmidt@athera.se
About Athera Biotechnologies AB
The mission of Athera is to address the large unmet need for anti-inflammatory therapeutics in the treatment of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Athera´s focus is on PC-mAb, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical program with block-buster potential. In addition, Athera has developed a biomarker and companion diagnostics product, CVDefine® kit. The biomarker, anti-PC, is linked to increased risk for CVD and could in the future be used for identification of patients that benefit from Athera’s novel therapeutics. Development of PC-mAb is co-funded by EU FP7 in the CARDIMMUN project that was started in 2013. For more information: www.athera.se
About Industrifonden
Industrifonden is one of Sweden's most experienced and active investors in early-stage tech and life science companies aiming for international growth. We are a long-term partner with about EUR 400 million in assets and serve as an active owner together with entrepreneurs and co-investors. Our passion is to build lasting value and successful companies. For further information, visit www.industrifonden.se or twitter.com/industrifonden