“We are delighted to welcome Ventech and Crédit Agricole as investors in our company. This investment will allow us to move our development projects forward at full speed and to demonstrate clinical proof-of-concept”, states Erich Tauber, CEO of Themis Bioscience. “We are convinced that Themis and its technology platform have great potential to deliver very promising vaccine candidates that will already at early clinical stage put the company into an ideal position to become an attractive licensing partner for major pharmaceutical companies”, commented Karl Naegler, General Partner at Ventech. “Themis is to develop a new generation of vaccines for emerging diseases, based on a highly promising technology and an experienced core team” adds Bruno Montanari, Director at Crédit Agricole Private Equity’s Venture Capital team.
Themis Bioscience was founded in Vienna in 2009 and received seed financing by the academic business incubator INiTS, the austria wirtschaftsservice (aws) and The Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG).
About Themis
The Vaccine Innovation Boutique Themis Bioscience is a start‐up biotechnology company developing vaccines to prevent infectious diseases. The company’s development focus is concentrated on emerging and specialist indications, advancing promising vaccines from preclinical to late‐stage clinical development phases. The company aims to exploit the increasing licensing and acquisition trend on the vaccine market to generate value by developing and partnering its technology programs and vaccine candidates. Themis’ core lead technology, Themaxyn™ ‐ a highly novel, patent‐protected, and innovative vaccine platform which originates from the world‐leading Institut Pasteur ‐ will be used to create novel vaccines. The Company’s first vaccine targets are emerging tropical and travelers diseases, including dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever virus, and there is clear potential to expand the Themaxyn™ technology to further indications. Themis was founded in September 2009 and is based in Vienna, Austria. Please be invited to www.themisbio.com for more detailed information.
About dengue virus and chikungunya virus
Dengue fever is transmitted by various mosquitoes of the genus Aedes, carrying the dengue virus. The first documented epidemic occurred from 1779 to 1780 simultaneously in Asia, Africa and North America, demonstrating a worldwide distribution of at least 200 years. The rapid population growth, urbanization and international air traffic have contributed to a dramatic increase in dengue disease in recent years. Today more than 2.5 billion people live in risk areas in the tropics and subtropics. The WHO estimates 50 to 100 million illnesses annually, of which 250,000 to 500,000 represent the severe form, dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF). Currently, there is no preventive vaccine or specific therapy.
Chikungunya fever is a viral infection and is also transmitted by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes. This viral pathogen occurs in South and Southeast Asia, and in Africa south of the Sahara, but of note is especially a recent epidemic in Italy. Symptoms
include a sudden onset of high fever, headache, conjunctivitis and muscle and joint pian and arthralgia. Currently, there is no preventive vaccine or specific therapy.
About Ventech
Ventech is a venture capital company which has invested for over 10 years in innovative IT and Life Sciences companies. Investments under management total over 360 million euros. Ventech’s was initially focused on investments in the Paris region but has established a presence in China. In Life Sciences, the company is focused on Europe and the US, especially in medical research, diagnostics, and medical devices. Further information is available at www.ventechvc.com
About Crédit Agricole Private Equity
Crédit Agricole Private Equity is an AMF‐accredited asset‐management subsidiary of Crédit Agricole, specialising in direct private‐equity investment in non‐listed companies. As multi‐specialist player, Crédit Agricole Private Equity’s team of 100 professionals manages €3.3 billion with specific expertise in LBO & Expansion, Venture Capital, Mezzanine, Co‐Investment, Renewable Energy and PPP Infrastructure. The 11‐strong venture capital team manages €470 million through FCPIs invested in young companies with high growth potential in 2 sectors: information technology and life sciences.
Crédit Agricole Private Equity has signed up to the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).
www.ca-‐privateequity.com