Confo Therapeutics Secures €30 Million Series A Financing to Advance GPCR-Targeted Therapeutics

VCBeat (WeChat Official Account: vcbeat) learned from foreign media reports that emerging drug development company Confo Therapeutics announced on May 7 the completion of a €30 million ($33.4 million) Series A financing round. The round was led by BioGeneration Ventures (BGV) and Wellington Partners, with participation from Fund+ and Perceptive Advisors, among others.

The funds raised in this round will be used for the company’s research on ConfoBodies-based GPCR-targeted therapeutic drugs, in preparation for future clinical trials.

It is reported that the company completed three rounds of financing in June 2015, February 2016, and February 2017, respectively, with the second round raising €6.7 million.

Confo Therapeutics, co-founded by VIB and Capricorn Venture Partners in 2015, is dedicated to the development of GPCR-targeted therapeutics. The company holds two proprietary technologies for drug discovery: Confo technology, which enables the development of monoclonal antibodies with precise targeting capabilities, and ConfoBodies technology, which stabilizes G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). In addition to advancing its own pipeline, Confo Therapeutics has established drug development collaborations with several pharmaceutical companies.

GPCRs can bind to chemical substances in the cellular microenvironment and activate a series of intracellular signaling pathways, ultimately leading to changes in cell state. They are ideal drug targets for treating various diseases, with approximately 40% of modern drugs targeting G protein-coupled receptors.

GPCRs can be inhibited or activated. Based on the biological responses induced by compounds, GPCR ligands are simply classified as agonists, antagonists, or inhibitors. Therapeutic ligand compounds can bind to GPCRs and stabilize their conformations, thereby influencing different intracellular signaling pathways mediated by distinct G proteins, receptor kinases, blockers, or other adaptor proteins.

The pathological phenotypes of many diseases are caused by abnormalities in specific signaling pathways. Only by stabilizing the correct target conformation can the pathway be restored, thereby minimizing the side effects of treatment on the human body.

ConfoBodies are a series of special monoclonal antibodies isolated from camels that can selectively stabilize GPCRs, inducing conformational changes. By stabilizing the conformation of GPCRs, ConfoBodies restore dysregulated signaling pathways and can be used for the development of novel receptor agonists.

Edward van Wezel, a partner at BGV, stated, “The achievements of the ConfoBody platform are impressive; it holds broad prospects for the development of compounds that can target GPCRs.”

VIB General Manager Johan Cardoen added, “Confo Therapeutics has continued to grow since its inception. The company has already achieved industrial-scale application of ConfoBody and established strategic partnerships with Lundbeck and Roche.”

BioGeneration Ventures is a venture capital firm founded in 2006, focusing on investing in European start-up or early-stage life sciences companies. Its primary investment areas include biotechnology, medical technology, and medical diagnostics. The company’s activities extend beyond financial investment; it works closely with scientists, academic institutions, entrepreneurs, and industry experts to accelerate the growth of its portfolio companies. Its funding primarily comes from the Netherlands Genomics Initiative (NGI), the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), Leiden University Holding Company, and ABN-AMRO Capital.

Wellington Partners is a venture capital firm founded in the 1990s, primarily investing in seed, early-stage, and growth-stage technology and life sciences companies. Its investment areas include digital media, software, electronics and photonics, resource efficiency, biotechnology, and life sciences.

Fund+ is a private equity investment firm that primarily invests in innovative life sciences companies in Belgium. The company is committed to fostering the growth of leading enterprises in the life sciences sector, generating tangible and beneficial social impact.

Perceptive Advisors, headquartered in New York, is a private fund sponsor. The company invests across China, with a focus on sectors such as biotechnology and life sciences.

(Compiled by Tang Lulu)