Activaero Closes a € 10.7 Million ($16 million) Series A Financing

GEMUENDEN, Germany & DUBLIN, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Activaero GmbH, the leading company in the field of controlled breathing technologies for inhaled therapeutic agents, announced today the closing of a Series A financing totalling € 10.7 Million ($16 million). The international consortium was led by BioMedPartners AG (advising BioMedInvest LP II) and included VI Partners AG, Abalis Finance AG and Vesalius Biocapital I SICAR S.A.. The transaction was advised by MedVenture Partners GmbH.

“Securing venture capital support for Activaero is important for our strategy to further increase visibility and awareness within the pharmaceutical industry and provide superior products and technologies to our collaboration partners. Therefore, we are delighted to have closed this financing round with such a consortium of leading Life Sciences investors”

The financing enables the Company to further develop its proprietary inhalation devices and strengthen business development activities for Activaero’s leading controlled inhalation technologies.

“Securing venture capital support for Activaero is important for our strategy to further increase visibility and awareness within the pharmaceutical industry and provide superior products and technologies to our collaboration partners. Therefore, we are delighted to have closed this financing round with such a consortium of leading Life Sciences investors,” said Gerhard Scheuch, Chief Executive Officer of Activaero. “The development and commercialization of our products and technology is now securely funded going forward.”

“Activaero has an outstanding expertise and reputation in the field of controlled inhalation. We are convinced that the strength of the unique technology combined with the experience of the team makes Activaero a very attractive investment and we are glad to be able to support Activaero in its further development and commercialization stages,” commented Gerhard Ries, General Partner at BioMedPartners.

At the same time, Gerhard Ries of BioMedPartners, Arnd Kaltofen of VI Partners, Jean-Marie Luechinger of Abalis Finance, Christian Schneider of Vesalius Biocapital Partners and John Patton, founder of Nektar, have all joined Activaero’s Supervisory Board.

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About Activaero GmbH
Activaero is the leading company in the field of controlled breathing technologies for inhaled therapeutic agents. With stand alone inhalation products and inhalation systems available for clinical trials and marketing partnerships, Activaero’s technologies allow for the most precise and efficient patient-tailored pulmonary delivery. Activaero currently has two products on the market, AKITA®, a patient-tailored controlled breathing system with a smartcard that records the patient dosing parameters, and Watchhaler™, a hand held delivery system tailored specifically to children. The Company also has available a range of technologies ideal for the controlled delivery of inhaled therapeutics in the clinical trial setting and tailored to specific partnerships (AKITA2®, LimiX™). Finally, Activaero works with partners on a consultancy basis in the development of ideal inhaled delivery systems and the logistics in clinical trials. Activaero’s technological approach has been validated repeatedly in the clinical setting. The Company is privately held and located in Gemünden (Wohra) and Munich in Germany and Dublin, Ohio in the USA.

About Abalis Finance AG
Abalis Finance AG is an independent Swiss Holding Company focused on financing market growth of successful companies in the field of Pharmaceuticals, Life Science and Med Tech The company takes participations but grants under certain circumstances credits as well. Along with the financial participation Abalis plays an active role in the companies it supports by sharing its knowledge. The management has the longstanding successful international experience in the development and marketing of originator as well as generic pharmaceuticals.
Abalis Finance AG also owns and operates Abalis Pharma AG which is active in the development, marketing and licensing of value added pharmaceutical product with a focus is on novel patentable solutions for solid dosage forms.

About BioMedPartners AG
BioMedPartners AG is a leading independent European venture capital firm, providing private equity and mezzanine financing to early- to mid-stage healthcare and Life Sciences companies. Since 2003, BioMedPartners has invested in more than 30 highly innovative companies, of which five have already either successfully completed an IPO (Arpida AG, Santhera Pharmaceuticals AG) or have been acquired by leading pharma companies (ESBATech AG, Glycart Biotechnology AG, Thommen Medical AG). Recently, BioMedPartners has announced the closing of its second BioMedInvest fund (BioMedInvest LP II) with a capital of around CHF 100 million. With more than CHF 250 million in capital under management and a strong team of experienced specialists and industry experts as well as an extensive scientific and financial network, BioMedPartners has established itself as one of the leading early-stage healthcare investors in Europe.

About Vesalius Biocapital Partners sàrl
Vesalius Biocapital Partners is a European venture capital firm that focuses on the creation and growth of pan-European early-stage life science companies. The managed Vesalius Biocapital funds invest in areas with a high unmet medical need and a significant profit potential: new therapeutics, cutting-edge medical devices, innovative drug delivery technologies and diagnostic tests and instruments with a high utility level. The expertise of the team ranges from extensive investment and exit experience to operational experience in general management, business development, product development, IP, and finance of start-ups and more mature life science companies. Furthermore, individual team members have in-depth technical insights and competitive scouting experience in the life science sector. For more information please see www.vesaliusbiocapital.com

About VI Partners AG
VI Partners is a Swiss venture capital firm that supports university spin-offs as well as other promising start-up companies with capital, coaching and networks. Via the current "Venture Incubator" fund VI Partners invests "smart money" to develop promising technology-based ideas for products and services into successful businesses. For additional information please visit: www.vipartners.ch