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Image credits: TargED Biopharmaceuticals

TargED Biopharmaceuticals, an Utrecht-based biotechnology company focused on developing improved treatments for thrombotic diseases, announced that it has secured €39M in a Series A round of funding. 

The capital was provided by an international syndicate comprising Andera Partners, Fund+, Hadean Ventures, Inkef Capital, and Sunstone Life Science Ventures, and joined by existing investors FIRST (Managed by BioGeneration Ventures), Curie Capital, and Utrecht Health Seed Fund.

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Following the funding, the Board of TargED will include Thijs Cohen Tervaert of Inkef Capital (Chair), Olivier Litzka of Andera Partners, Mariette van der Velden-Roesink of Curie Capital, Jan Van den Bossche of  Fund+, Roger Franklin of Hadean Ventures, and Jacob Lange Moresco of Sunstone Life Science Ventures.

Thijs Cohen Tervaert, Chair of the Board of Directors, says, “Together with Jacob, Roger, Jan, and Olivier, we are very pleased to invest in this impressive TargED team. Microlyse is a therapeutic innovation that has a very strong potential to significantly lower the burden of disease related to thrombotic events. We are excited to join forces with TargED to accelerate the development of Microlyse into clinical development, both in aTTP and AIS.”

Fund utilisation

The company says the funds will be used to accelerate the development of “first-in-class” targeted thrombolytic treatment into clinical development. 

Kristof Vercruysse, Chief Executive Officer of TargED, says, “We are delighted to have the support of this international syndicate of world-class life science investors, a validation of the potential of Microlyse. We are proud to be developing products that have the potential to positively impact millions of lives by enabling patient access to such life-saving treatment.”

TargED Biopharmaceuticals: What you need to know

Founded in 2020 as a spin-off of the University Medical Center Utrecht, TargED (Targeted Enzyme Delivery) Biopharmaceuticals develops biological drugs to improve the treatment of thrombosis.

The company develops its biological drugs using small antibodies (“VhH”) to deliver enzymes to sites of thrombosis, enabling ‘targeted’ thrombolysis.

The lead compound is Microlyse, a proprietary clot-busting compound that binds to a protein present in all forms of thrombosis. TargED says it is the first compound to achieve targeted enzyme delivery, using a single domain antibody (VhH), directly to blood clots. It then dissolves faster and safer compared to standard care, and recently featured on the cover of the medical journal Blood. 

“We are happy that our pioneering efforts on the design of an enzyme that targets blood clots led to compelling preclinical data recently published in the journal Blood,” says UMC Utrecht Associate Professor Coen Maas and scientific co-founder of TargED. 

“It is exciting to see that this work has been able to attract such a strong syndicate of investors, which will now allow us to develop Microlyse towards therapeutic breakthrough, potentially across a range of indications with high unmet medical need,” he adds.

The company’s Microlyse is currently under development for thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) and Acute Ischemic Stroke (AIS). 

Mariette van der Velden, Managing Partner of Curie Capital, says on behalf of seed investors FIRST and Utrecht Health Seed Fund, “Microlyse has the potential to better address the needs of patients suffering from thrombotic diseases. With a tremendous drive, the TargED team has produced very promising preclinical results supported by our seed funding. We are excited to enter the next phase of the development of Microlyse towards patients worldwide.”