Cinclus Pharma, a clinical-stage biopharma company developing treatments for acid-related diseases, has entered a major licensing and commercialization agreement with European pharmaceutical leader Zentiva. The deal, valued at up to €220 million, grants Zentiva exclusive rights to manufacture and market Cinclus’s lead asset, linaprazan glurate, across the EEA, UK, and Switzerland.
Linaprazan glurate is a next-generation treatment for severe erosive GERD, targeting a European and US market of approximately 10 million patients.
This strategic partnership strengthens Cinclus Pharma’s commercialization pathway in Europe while retaining full rights to the US market, positioning the company for significant global value creation.
Our portfolio company, Purpose Pharma, has announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has adopted a positive opinion for Attrogy® (diflunisal). Attrogy® is indicated for the treatment of hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis (hATTR amyloidosis) in adult patients with stage 1 or stage 2 polyneuropathy.
If approved by the European Commission (EC), Attrogy® will become the only oral therapy authorized for treating both stage 1 and stage 2 ATTR polyneuropathy. This represents a major advancement for hATTR patients, offering a convenient and accessible oral treatment option that addresses a significant unmet need. Attrogy® could enable earlier and more sustained management of disease progression, helping patients maintain their quality of life longer.
About Purpose Pharma Purpose Pharma is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative treatments for rare diseases with high unmet medical needs
On July 10, 2020, Eir Ventures I was launched with the announcement of the first close of our fund. Since the launch, Eir Ventures have completed investments in 17 pioneering life science companies; 5 companies have taken their development programs into clinical testing, and two companies have been listed on NASDAQ (US). We continue to develop the portfolio and look forward to the coming years in the fund. The Eir Ventures team sends the best wishes for the summer to all our colleagues and friends in the Nordic and International Life Science community.
Eir Ventures welcomes Lovisa Backemar as Principal in the Eir Ventures Team. Lovisa is a Medical Doctor and holds a PhD in clinical epidemiology from the Karolinska Institute. Prior to joining Eir Ventures, Lovisa served as Head of Business Development at the Swedish healthcare provider Capio, where she played a key role in setting the strategic direction and leading growth projects. Lovisa also gained valuable experience as a management consultant at Boston Consulting Group, working on diverse projects in different industries, mainly MedTech and Pharma. Lovisa will be based in Stockholm.
Pok Yeung Lee and Jorge Pérez Hermilla, two MMSc students from the Bioentrepreneurship program anchored at Karolinska Institutet and Royal Institute of Technology, will join the Eir Ventures Stockholm team in January 2022.
Pok Yeung has previous investment analyst and business consultant experience and has most recently been working with life science investments at Hadean Ventures in Stockholm. He has a BSc in Biotechnology and Business from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Jorge has previous strategy consulting experience and has most recently been working with life science equity investments at Öhman Fonder. He has a MD from University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
Eir Ventures welcomes Tobias Horneman-Thielcke as senior Principal in the Eir Ventures Team. Tobias is a physician and holds a BA in Law. Tobias started his career working as a physician in the clinic and later transferred to the pharmaceutical industry, where he spent several years in various regional and global leadership positions for Sanofi Genzyme and Y-mAbs. Tobias is experienced within rare diseases, immunology and oncology, developing and managing strategy, product launches and drug positioning with R&D. Tobias is also the founder of a medtech startup company, Connect2Treat.com, that digitalises HCP and pharma interactions. The position is in Copenhagen
Eir Ventures welcomes Gökçe Günaydın as Investment Associate. Gökçe is joining from the pharmaceutical industry where she held global positions in Medical Affairs. She worked at the Karolinska Institute for 10 years, where she obtained her PhD. In 2021, she won the prestigious SSE MBA Carl Silfvén Scholarship allowing her to pursue her Executive MBA at Stockholm School of Economics. She is also the recipient of prestigious awards in the field of medical innovation.