Forbion co-leads €61 Million Series A Financing in AAVantgarde to Advance Two Therapeutic Programs into the Clinic

Naarden, The Netherlands and Munich, Germany, June 06, 2023 — Forbion, a leading European life sciences venture capital firm, today announces that it has co-led the closing of an €61 ($66) million Series A financing in AAVantgarde Bio (AAVantgarde). AAVantgarde is an Italy-based international biotechnology company that has developed two complementary next generation proprietary Adeno-Associated Viral (AAV) vector platforms that allow for the delivery of large genes. AAVantgarde is an investment from Forbion’s Ventures Fund V.

Together with Forbion, the financing was co-led by US investment firm Atlas Venture and with participation from the Company’s founding investor, Sofinnova Partners through its Sofinnova Telethon Fund and new investor Longwood Fund. In connection with the Series A financing Dmitrij Hristodorov from Forbion, Jason Rhodes from Atlas Venture and David Steinberg from Longwood Fund will join the AAVantgarde Board.

The investment in AAVantgarde reinforces Forbion’s track record and deep domain expertise in ophthalmology. In the past 24 months, Forbion has led a total of four investments in ophthalmology, one of which was Gyroscope Therapeutics which was acquired by Novartis for up to 1.5 billion USD only 9 months after the investment. The other two investments, in addition to AAVantgarde, are Oxular and Complement Therapeutics, addressing high unmet clinical needs for patients with retinal blindness diseases. Oxular is a clinical-stage company developing durable treatments by delivering different payloads to the suprachoroidal space. Complement Therapeutics is developing a highly differentiated gene therapy for dry age-associated macular degeneration (AMD) patients and has just recently announced an oversubscribed Series A financing round of €72M, also co-led by Forbion.

“Leveraging our in-house expertise and our network of experts, we are very pleased to be able to build or select innovative ophthalmology companies. AAVantgarde is a great example of such an innovator with a clear focus to bring efficacious treatment options to patients with genetic retinal diseases, such as Usher1B and Stargardt’s,” said Dmitrij Hristodorov Partner at Forbion. “We are excited by the opportunity to back such a dedicated team with a proven track record of success and to work with a top-tier investor syndicate.”

“This financing represents a hallmark moment in our mission to help patients and we are excited to work with both our new and founding investors to advance our platforms and pipeline,” said Dr. Natalia Misciattelli, Chief Executive Officer of AAVantgarde. “The completion of this oversubscribed round with such a high-caliber group of global life science investors is a recognition of the significance of AAVantgarde’s unique technology which will initially be utilized to help patients suffering with the debilitating impact of blindness associated with Usher 1B syndrome and Stargardt’s disease.”

Proceeds from this financing allow AAVantgarde to further its mission of developing the Company’s two complementary AAV platform technologies to enable the delivery of oversized genes. This platform will initially be clinically validated in two Inherited Retinal Diseases (IRD) and the funding will allow AAVantgarde’s lead program in Usher1B to reach clinical proof of concept, with the Company’s second program in Stargardt’s disease advancing into the clinic.