Amsterdam, The Netherlands – 15 June 2021 – Forbion, a leading European life sciences venture capital firm, today announces that it has co-led the oversubscribed EUR 31 million seed financing of its portfolio company VectorY, together with a leading global investment firm. BioGeneration Ventures, and Eli Lilly & Company also joined the syndicate. VectorY is a fully integrated gene therapy company focused on the development of innovative vectorized antibodies for muscular and neurodegenerative disorders. VectorY also today announced the appointments of Alexander Vos as Chief Executive Officer, and Prof. Dr. Sander van Deventer as Chief Technology Officer, effective immediately.
The proceeds from this seed financing will be used by the Company to establish pre-clinical proof of concept for vectorized antibodies in target indications of ALS and Alzheimer’s. The Company will also use the funds to establish proprietary manufacturing capabilities, including a state-of-the-art GMP facility in the Netherlands.
Today, Forbion also announced the appointment of its Operating Partner Dr. Sander van Deventer as VectorY’s Chief Technology Officer and a new Chief Executive Officer, Alexander Vos, both highly experienced pioneers in the cell and gene therapy field.
Dr. van Deventer joins VectorY following his most recent appointment at uniQure as its Executive Vice President, Research and Product Development. He is a leading expert in advanced medicines, having brought to market several innovative drugs including a gene therapy. As one of the co-founders of uniQure’s predecessor Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics (AMT) in 1998, he was instrumental in developing AMT’s and uniQure’s research activities, clinical development, process development, analytical development and vector development, culminating in the first ever commercially approved gene therapy, Glybera, in 2012. Dr. van Deventer is a trained internist and board-certified gastroenterologist. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Amsterdam and is Operating Partner at Forbion.
Alexander brings over 25 years of leadership experience in the biotech industry, having held senior positions at multiple private and public biopharma companies, such as Genzyme (Europe), Paion AG, and most recently, VarmX. Specifically, he brings many years of experience in cell and gene therapy as the CEO of PharmaCell BV, the leading European CDMO where he served from 2010 until 2017, when it was acquired by Lonza. He has been one of the industry pioneers laying the foundation in Europe for the global industry group Alliance for Regenerative Medicine and subsequently served on the executive board. Mr. Vos holds a MS in Pharmacy and Pharmacology from the University of Amsterdam and an MBA from Stanford University and is Venture Partner at BioGeneration Ventures.
The Company’s Board of Directors will continue to be chaired by Dr. Carlo Incerti, previously Chief Medical Officer of Sanofi Genzyme. Marco Boorsma, General Partner at Forbion, who has acted as interim-CEO since company inception, will become a member of the Board, replacing Sander Slootweg.
Marco Boorsma, General Partner, Forbion, and Board member of VectorY, commented:
“Coupled with the appointments of seasoned industry experts Alexander as CEO, and Sander as CTO, this seed financing excellently places VectorY to progress vectorized antibodies as therapies for serious diseases of unmet medical need, and to establish proprietary manufacturing capabilities. As I move into my new role as a Board member, I hope to be able to provide Alexander and the rest of the management team with the support required to make VectorY a great success.”
Carlo Incerti, Chairman of VectorY, commented:
“On the behalf of the VectorY Board, I’d like to welcome Alexander and Sander to the Company. With significant experience in cell and gene therapy, their expertise will be critical to VectorY as it looks to establish pre-clinical proof of concept for vectorized antibodies in our target indications of ALS and other neurodegenerative disorders. I’d also like to take the opportunity to thank Marco Boorsma for his essential contribution as interim-CEO since the launch of the Company, especially for being instrumental in completing the €31 million seed financing round that was announced today.”
Alexander Vos, newly-appointed CEO of VectorY, said:
“I feel very privileged to lead the distinguished team at VectorY. Our world-class team of scientists will be breaking new ground in the field of gene therapy, which is an area I have worked in for many years. I am proud to be able to support the team in developing new therapies for patients in the challenging field of neuroscience and muscular disorders.
“With today’s announcement of the €31m seed financing, co-led by Forbion and a leading global investment firm, we have the resources to drive the Company forward. We are grateful for the trust placed in our team, which is testament to the credibility of our technological approach and scientific expertise. These proceeds will enable us to get the Company off to a great start to establish proof-of-concept for our vectorized antibodies and effectively tackle some notoriously challenging disease areas.”
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For more information please contact:
Media Enquiries
Laura Asbjornsen, Head of Communications
Email: laura.asbjornsen@forbion.com
Tel: +31 (0) 35 699 30 00
Instinctif Partners for Forbion
Melanie Toyne-Sewell / Phil Marriage
Email: forbion@instinctif.com
Tel: +44 (0)207 457 2020
Notes to Editors
About VectorY
VectorY combines the therapeutic potential of antibodies and gene therapy to develop long-lasting therapeutic solutions for muscular and neurodegenerative diseases with high unmet medical need.
Founded in August 2020, and based in the Amsterdam Science Park, VectorY is a fully integrated gene therapy company focused on the development of innovative therapeutics based on a novel AAV gene therapy platform, antibody-based targeted degradation technologies, and proprietary manufacturing technology.
VectorY develops proprietary & partnered programs and product candidates are based on new technologies that will enable the next generation of highly scalable manufacturing processes within VectorY’s own manufacturing facilities. VectorY’s manufacturing capabilities will include a state-of-the-art multi-product GMP facility in the Netherlands, with the capability to deliver suspension based AAV viral vector manufacturing of up to 2000L for both clinical and commercial supply.
About Forbion
Forbion is a dedicated life sciences venture capital firm with offices in The Netherlands, Germany and Singapore. Forbion invests in life sciences companies that are active in the (bio-) pharmaceutical space.
Forbion manages well over EUR 1.7 billion across multiple fund strategies that cover all stages of (bio)pharmaceutical drug development. Forbion’s current team consists of 20 life sciences investment professionals that have built an impressive performance track record since the late nineties with successful investments in over 69 companies.
The firm is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment. Besides financial objectives, Forbion selects investments that will positively affect the health and well-being of patients.
Its investors include the EIF, through its European Recovery Programme (ERP), LfA, Dutch Venture Initiative (DVI), AMUF and EFSI facilities and KfW Capital through the Programme, “ERP – Venture Capital Fonds investments”. Forbion operates a joint venture with BGV, the manager of seed and early-stage funds, especially focused on Benelux and Germany.
For more information, please visit: www.forbion.com.