Capital risk investment: Biogenera
Each year in the world 200.000 children aged between zero and eight years old are dying from cancer. Despite these numbers, research and development of new therapies for paediatric oncology represent a marginal role: drugs and therapies used are coming from oncology for adults with often serious effects on the little patients. To fill up this lack of therapies and specific products (technically orphan drugs) two Professors from the Paediatric Oncology Faculty of the University of Bologna have developed a therapy, protected by a patent, able to attack some rare paediatric cancers in a targeted manner.
On the basis of the results achieved in laboratory and thanks to the investment of ZernikeMeta Ventures through the Ingenium Emilia Romagna Fund, and with a pool of private investors, the patent has been turned into a company, Biogenera, which is currently developing and testing the new therapy. The company is, for the time being, engaged in gathering new capital that will be used to complete the first clinic trials and the administration of the therapy to the first patients.
What is the added value of the investment in Biogenera?
Francesca Natali, Responsible of
the investment in Biogenera for ZernikeMeta Ventures: “The possibility for the company to access to the specialist competences existing in the pool of investors taking part in the investment transaction”.
What is the distinctive element of ZernikeMeta Ventures?
Francesca Natali, Responsible of the investment in Biogenera for ZernikeMeta Ventures: “Ability
to sustain the company in accessing private investment channels, able
to support Biogenera in its growth and expansion phase”.
Roberto Tonelli, co-founder of Biogenera: “Biogenera
has received the expert and qualified support of META Group, first
during the founding phase of the company through backup for the research
of investors (Ventures Capitals and Business Angels), and second, after
the founding of the company, during the start up and launch phase, with
a particular reference to the organizational aspects of the company”.