Novartis buys VC-backed Australian drug developer Spinifex

Other investors in Spinifex include global players Novo Ventures and Canaan Partners, as well as Uniseed Management and UniQuest, which are technology commercialization funds tied to Australian universities. Novo and Canaan led a $45 million Series C round of funding for the company in April 2014, alongside the existing domestic backers.

A Series A round worth A$3.25 million ($2.5 million) closed in 2005-2006, and was followed by A$23 million in Series B funding, announced in August 2011.

Spinifex, which develops new drugs for the treatment of chronic pain, is headquartered in the US and has an office in Melbourne. However, the company was founded in Australia, based on an initial discovery by Professor Maree Smith of the University of Queensland.

Its lead candidate is EMA401, an oral treatment that addresses neuropathic pain - often caused by diabetes, cancer or its treatment, viruses and nerve trauma - without central nervous system side effects. The drug has been through phase-two clinical trials and Novartis will support the company through the next stage of trials.

In addition to the upfront payment of $200 million, Spinifex shareholders will receive further distributions based on the company reaching certain clinical development and regulatory milestones.

"The success of Spinifex and the tremendous potential for EMA401 to help patients suffering from neuropathic pain is a significant example of how an international venture capital syndicate, partnering with Australian based investors, can bring university technology closer to commercialization," said Heath Lukatch, chairman of Spinifex, said in a statement.

Brandon closed its most recent life sciences VC fund at A$200 million earlier this year. Up to A$50 million will go into 20-30 very early seed-stage investments and the remaining A$150 million is reserved for the start-ups in that batch that make the cut. LPs can then commit up to A$30 million between them to each of the most promising companies.

GBS Venture Partners invests in growth companies, particularly in the healthcare, biotech and life science segments. It has A$400 million under management across five funds, most recently raising A$125 million for GBS Bioventures IV in 2009.

 

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• Topics
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