Ysios closes a sale agreement for a startup for up to €1.862 billion.
The company owned by the investment fund is developing a treatment for hemorrhages
BarcelonaThe investment fund Ysios Capital has closed a purchase agreement with the Swiss multinational CSL for a maximum price of 2.2 billion dollars (about 1.862 billion euros) for its start-up VarmX, the fund reported in a statement on Tuesday.
CSL will finance a new clinical trial of a drug developed by VarmX and make an initial payment to the various shareholders of the company. start-up –including Ysios– of $117 million for an exclusive purchase option. Should the Swiss group ultimately complete its acquisition, it will pay up to an additional $388 million to the owners of VarmX. In addition, the agreement includes an additional payment of up to $1.7 billion if several commercial milestones linked to the drug's sales are achieved.
Specifically, VarmX is working on the development of the VMX-C001 protein, which serves as a medical treatment to prevent severe bleeding (blood loss from an internal or external wound) in patients receiving oral anticoagulant treatment. "These bleedings represent an unmet medical need, as there are no definitively approved treatments in either Europe or the United States," Ysios explains in its statement.
According to data provided by the investment fund, some 30 million people receive treatment with this type of anticoagulant for diseases such as atrial fibrillation (a type of heart arrhythmia) or deep vein thrombosis (blood clots) and of these, between 2% and 2% require emergency surgery to reverse the anticoagulation. The drug made by thestart-up "It immediately restores clotting" with a single dose and is compatible with all types of anticoagulants. Thus, following the agreement between CSL and VarmX shareholders, the Swiss company will fund the Phase 3 clinical trial of VMX-C001.
Shareholder since 2020
VarmX was founded in 2016 by Professor Pieter Reitsma as a spin-off from the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. Ysios raised its capital in 2020, having co-led a €32 million Series B round for VarmX. Ysios partner, Guillem Laporta, who sits on the startup's board, believes VarmX has "clear potential for impact in improving patients' lives." In addition to Ysios, VarmX has several venture capital funds and firms specializing in biotechnology and biomedicine as investors.
CSL is a Swiss pharmaceutical company founded in 1916 and currently employs more than 32,000 people in around 100 countries. It specializes in the marketing of vaccines, treatments for hemophilia and immunodeficiencies, and nephrology, among others.