Anavo Therapeutics – a global leader in unlocking the full therapeutic potential of human phosphatase biology – announced recently an €8.5 million seed round extension, adding MRL Ventures Fund as a new investor. And all existing investors, M Ventures, INKEF, Taiho Ventures, and Bioqube Ventures, participated in the extension, bringing the total seed round to €28 million.
In connection with the funding, Karin Kleinhans, Partner at MRL Ventures Fund, will join the existing Board of Directors, which includes Charles McDermott (Chairman); Therese Maria Liechtenstein, M Ventures; Simone Botti, INKEF Capital; Sakae Asanuma, Taiho Ventures; Debora Dumont, Bioqube Ventures; and Birgit Zech, Anavo Therapeutics.
Anavo Therapeutics is known as the first company to systematically drug phosphatases, which is a rich target space previously considered undruggable for decades. The company has attracted world-leading scientific expertise in phosphatase-driven disease biology and drug discovery to unlock the full potential of phosphatase-targeted allosteric modulators. In oncology, Anavo has been developing multiple first-in-class therapeutic programs and will build on partnerships around its platform to establish a rich pipeline across several indications.
KEY QUOTES:
“Since our inception in 2021, Anavo Therapeutics has advanced multiple proprietary pipeline programs in this centrally important target class and added significant expertise to the team, SAB, and the board. Today, we welcome MRL Ventures Fund to our existing investor syndicate. Leveraging our unique IGNITE phosphatase drug discovery platform, we will continue to accelerate our proprietary portfolio of programs targeting disease-relevant phosphatases toward clinical development, while continuing to build a center of excellence for phosphatase targeting.”
— Birgit Zech, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Anavo Therapeutics
“We are encouraged by the progress being made at Anavo in establishing a systematic approach to phosphatase drug discovery. At MRL Ventures we believe Anavo’s platform offers the potential to harness the therapeutic opportunity of this important target class.”
— Karin Kleinhans, PhD, Partner at MRL Ventures Fund
