Asabys captures Novo and Jeito for a €78M financing round in Augustine Therapeutics

BarcelonaAsabys Partners, through its Sabadell Asabys II fund, has participated in a €78 million financing round in Augustine Therapeutics, a biotechnology company specializing in developing new therapies for neuromuscular, neurodegenerative, and cardiometabolic diseases, the company announced. The Catalan fund has secured the participation of two major European funds, Novo and Jeito, in this financing.

Asabys already participated in Augustine's first round of €17 million, in 2024, in which the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly also participated.

The funds raised in this €78 million round will be primarily dedicated to the clinical development of the lead candidate for the treatment of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, which is expected to immediately enter Phase 1. In addition, Augustine has two other programs in the preclinical phase. As Isabel Jiménez, senior partner at Asabys, explained to ARA, the round was oversubscribed, which will allow progress in the development of these programs.

Augustine Therapeutics is a Belgian company focused on new therapies for neuronal diseases. For Isabel Jiménez, it is important that Asabys also makes investments outside of Catalonia and Spain, such as this one, "because it allows large European funds, such as Novo and Jeito, in this case, to get to know Asabys and, consequently, the Catalan biotechnology ecosystem." "It's a lever to attract international funds here," she assures. Clara Campàs, co-founding partner of Asabys, emphasizes that the fund invests practically half of its resources in Spain, basically in Catalonia, but that participating in rounds with foreign companies "is strategic for these funds to come here."

Campàs is a director of Augustine Therapeutics, while Isabel Jiménez is a board observer. Coinciding with the final round of 78 million euros just closed, the Belgian company has also added a new CEO, Gerhard Koenig, a biotechnology expert with more than 30 years of experience, who has founded and led several companies in the sector. Emanuelle Coutanceau, partner Novo Holdings, and Mehdi Ainouche, director of Jeito, have joined Augustine's board as directors. Annette Clancy (oroperating partner of Jeito Capital) and Marie Schroeder (vice president of Novo Holdings) will join as board observers.