Cerenis Therapeutics closes first round of series C, raises €40 million

Cerenis Therapeutics SA (Cerenis), a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the research and development of novel therapies based on the metabolism of HDL (the "good" cholesterol) to treat cardiovascular and other metabolic diseases, announced today it has raised €40 million in the first close of its series C financing. In this round €20 million came from the Fund for Strategic Investment (FSI) with an additional €20 million coming from the existing investors: Sofinnova Partners, HealthCap, Alta Partners and TVM Capital, EDF Ventures, OrbiMed and DAIWA Corporate Investment.

“Jean-Pierre is a highly experienced, knowledgeable, and respected member of the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector. It is with great pleasure that we can welcome a person of such board-level caliber as an advocate of Cerenis and our HDL therapy approach to cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.”

This third round of financing for Cerenis (Series C) will fund Phase II development of the lead Cerenis program, CER-001, an HDL-mimetic for the treatment of cardiovascular disease and to support the development of other new HDL therapies. This round of financing brings the total capital raised to date by the company to €107 million.

Jean-Louis Dasseux, co-founder and CEO of Cerenis said: "We welcome the FSI as a new investor and are very pleased to have such strong support from our current investors. This support recognizes the progress made to date in the development of Cerenis in the field of HDL, the promise of the pipeline of products, and the quality of Cerenis' team."

Further fund raising details

Founded in 2005, Cerenis is a biopharmaceutical company based in Toulouse (France) and Ann Arbor (USA). The company develops novel therapeutics for the treatment of cardiovascular disease related to dyslipidemia. They intend to reproduce the beneficial aspects of high density lipoprotein (HDL, the "good cholesterol") to regress plaque build-up in the vascular bed. This is an important unmet medical need; the existing available therapies are intended to limit new cholesterol deposits or to treat the symptoms of cardiovascular disease without the ability to significantly reduce existing plaque.

The objectives of this funding round are to promote the development of a treatment to rapidly regress atherosclerotic plaque, a novel approach to treat cardiovascular disease and atherosclerosis, which remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and to support the development of a company capable of bringing a major innovative breakthrough to one of the main areas of need in human health.

Thomas Devedjian, Director and member of the Executive Committee of the FSI, said: "We are pleased to contribute, alongside the existing shareholders, to the development efforts of Cerenis toward a potentially revolutionary treatment in the field of cardiovascular disease."

Appointment of Jean-Pierre Garnier

Cerenis is also pleased to announce that Jean-Pierre Garnier, former CEO of GlaxoSmithKline and Pierre Fabre Laboratories, will join the Cerenis Board of Directors as a Non-Executive Director; and will be FSI's representative on the board.

Commenting on the appointment, Jean-Louis Dasseux said: "Jean-Pierre is a highly experienced, knowledgeable, and respected member of the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector. It is with great pleasure that we can welcome a person of such board-level caliber as an advocate of Cerenis and our HDL therapy approach to cardiovascular and metabolic diseases."