BioXell launches with ?22 million

Investee Company – BioXell SpA (Italy)

Investee Company Business – Biopharmaceutical research and development

Type of Financing – Start-up

Equity Providers – MPM Capital, Index Ventures and Life Sciences Partners

Equity Leader (Individual) – Michael Steinmetz, (MPM Capital LP)

Debt Providers – N/A

Debt Type – N/A

Debt Leader (Individual) – N/A

Equity Amount – €22 million

Total Deal Value – €22 million

Other Advisors – For Life Sciences Partners – Dr von Einem at Haarmann, Hemmelrath & Partner

Comments – Milan-based BioXell SpA, a biopharmaceutical researcher and developer has raised €22 million in start-up funding.

The deal was led by MPM Capital who invested around €11.5 million. Further investors in the consortium were Index Ventures and Life Science Partners who invested €4 million. Roche Milano Ricerche will retain a 17% stake in the company. BioXell plans to use the capital to become a leading company in its field.

Headquartered in Boston and with offices in San Francisco and Munich, MPM Capital is the manager for the BioVentures and BioEquities family of funds that are invested in select healthcare companies in the US and in Europe and currently manages in excess of $1 billion of committed capital.

With its official launch on March 26 as a spin-off from Roche Milano Ricerche, BioXell combines extensive industry experience with a competitive edge in immunology. Dr Francesco Sinigaglia managing director, founder and scientific director of Roche Milano Ricerche, a Roche institute focusing on chronic inflammatory diseases and autoimmunity, will become CEO of BioXell. The company’s focus is on immunology and diseases such as benign prostatic hyperplasia, septic shock, secondary hyperparathyroidism and type I diabetes.

BioXell is leveraging its unique assets and establishing a fully integrated research team that will cover the essential elements of small molecule and protein drug discovery. The company’s vitamin research will be carried out at BioXell Inc, a fully owned subsidiary located in Nutley, New Jersey.

Michael Steinmetz, a general partner of MPM Capital LP, said: “The company has been started by a talented and experienced group of founders and employees with a very promising technology platform and a basket of product candidates from Roche. All of us are committed to building a premier biotechnology company.”