Forbion co-leads €129 million Series A financing of VectorY, one of the largest private biotech financings in Europe in 2023

• Round co-led by Forbion and EQT Life Sciences
• Financing will support clinical development of VTx-002, a potentially disease-modifying therapy for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and additional pipeline programs
• Successful fundraising demonstrates value of Forbion platform, with multiple Forbion fund strategies supporting VectorY’s development since launch

Amsterdam, The Netherlands, November 13, 2023 – Forbion, a leading European life sciences venture capital firm, today announces that its Growth Opportunities Fund has co-led, together with EQT Life Sciences, a €129 million Series A financing in VectorY Therapeutics, a biotech company focusing on the development of innovative vectorized antibody therapies for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. The financing is one of the largest private biotech financing rounds in Europe this year. New and existing investors also participated in the financing, including MRL Ventures Fund, a corporate venture arm of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ USA, Insight Partners, ALS Investment Fund, Forbion Ventures, BioGeneration Ventures (BGV) and another known investor.

VectorY will use the proceeds from the financing to support the clinical development of VTx-002, its lead vectorized antibody program targeting TDP-43 for the treatment of ALS, and to accelerate the development of its vectorized antibody platform and pipeline programs.

ALS is a devastating condition that affects hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. It is characterized by the progressive degeneration of motor neurons, which leads to an average life expectancy after diagnosis of only two to five years. At present, there is no cure available to stop or reverse ALS and currently available treatments only slow disease progression by months.

VectorY was launched in 2020, co-founded by Forbion Ventures and Sander van Deventer, who has a longstanding track record in antibody and gene therapy development and is VectorY’s CEO as well as a Forbion Operating Partner. Subsequently, Forbion Ventures Fund IV co-led the €31 million seed financing round in VectorY in 2021. Forbion’s Growth Opportunities Fund II co-led the Series A financing as announced today.

Wouter Joustra, General Partner, said, “Under the leadership of Sander van Deventer, a world-renowned researcher and entrepreneur in the field of gene therapy, combined with Forbion’s experience in backing pioneering therapies, we expect VectorY to attain significant value generating milestones with this round’s proceeds. The broad and high-quality syndicate that we have been able to put together at this stage in VectorY’s development is a testament to the confidence of investors in VectorY’s unique platform and its pipeline of vectorized antibody treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.”

Marco Boorsma, PhD, General Partner and former VectorY CEO, added, “VectorY’s successful fundraise demonstrates the value of Forbion’s platform of funds and its track record in creating, building and growing innovative biotechs. Our Ventures strategy facilitated VectorY’s creation and enabled the company to establish pre-clinical proof of concept for vectorized antibodies in ALS. With Forbion Growth’s strategy we are well positioned to support companies like VectorY, all the way to market approval.”

In connection with the financing, Wouter Joustra, General Partner at Forbion, Arno de Wilde, Director at EQT Life Sciences, and Karin Kleinhans, Partner at MRL Ventures Fund, will join VectorY’s board of directors.