MILAN, Italy, Oct. 20, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- BioXell today announced that it has completed a private financing round raising euro23m. The funding, led by the international life science investor BB BIOTECH, includes NIF Ventures from Japan and QVentures from Germany, in addition to Bioxell's existing shareholders MPM Capital, Index Ventures, AlpInvest Partners, Life Science Partners and Investimenti Piccole Imprese.
This financing brings the total raised to date to euro63m in private funds since the company was spun-out from Roche nearly 3 years ago. In that time BioXell has built a strong portfolio of clinical and preclinical compounds to treat urological and inflammatory diseases. Last month the company announced positive Phase IIa results with its lead compound BXL628 for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), now due to commence a Phase IIb trial in the first half of 2005.
Francesco Sinigaglia, BioXell's CEO, said, "We are pleased with the rapid progress we have made, not least in the development of BXL628 in a relatively short space of time. This is undoubtedly a key factor in the success of our fundraising, which came together very quickly and enables us to progress the BPH studies into late stage trials as well as preparing to move the compound forward in other indications. We are particularly delighted to have BB BIOTECH join our small group of highly committed investors."
Thomas Szucs, Chairman of BB BIOTECH, commented, "We made our investment in BioXell based on the company's seasoned leadership and the tremendous asset in its Vitamin D3 analogue platform. By investing in further clinical development programmes of BXL628, Bioxell is well positioned to establish a strong urology and anti-inflammatory franchise. We believe that BXL628 has the potential to become the standard of care in the treatment of a number of urological diseases."
About BioXell
Spun-out from Roche in January 2002, BioXell is a private biopharmaceutical company focusing on the discovery and development of new treatments for urological and chronic inflammatory disorders. Through its proprietary technology platform based on Vitamin D3 analogues, BioXell has identified a number of promising lead development programmes. Its pipeline includes BXL628 for benign prostatic hyperplasia and overactive bladder, as well as compounds to treat other major urological indications. In order to further exploit its Vitamin D3 platform, BioXell is collaborating with ProStrakan to develop drug candidates to cure osteoporosis and secondary hyperparathyroidism. Furthermore, based on its unique understanding of the inflammatory process and knowledge of GPCRs and TREM receptor biology, BioXell is also committed to a number of cutting-edge research projects to develop new drugs for chronic inflammatory diseases in collaboration with external partners. To date, BioXell has raised a total of over euro70m through world-class specialised healthcare VC investors including MPM Capital, Index Ventures, AlpInvest Partners, BB BIOTECH and Life Science Partners as well as government funding. BioXell currently employs 53 people and has sites in Milan, Italy and Nutley, NJ, USA. More information on BioXell can be found on: www.bioxell.com
About BB Biotech
BB BIOTECH acquires holdings in companies in the biotechnology growth market and is currently one of the world's largest investors in the sector. BB BIOTECH is listed on the Swiss Stock Market, the "Prime Standard" (TecDax) of the German Stock Exchange and the Italian "Nuovo Mercato" (Tech Star). The focus of the holdings is on quoted companies that are concentrating on the development and marketing of innovative medicines. For the selection of holdings, BB BIOTECH relies on fundamental analysis by physicians and molecular biologists. The Board of Directors has many years of industrial and scientific experience. More information on BB BIOTECH can be found on: www.bbbiotech.com
This information is provided by RNS
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