Ysios capital, the leading private equity manager in the biotech sector in Spain, announced on 14 April that it has participated in a $68M round in the U.S. Kala Pharmaceuticals, specialising in the development of innovative treatments for eye diseases. We take a look at the investments made by this fund manager.
Investments made by Ysios Capital
Since its launch in 2009 Ysios has participated in 18 companies and 25 financing rounds and has divested 5 companies.
After a few years in which the number of participations had declined, last year Ysios made a strong commitment to biotechnology and participated in 4 rounds, a figure it had not reached since 2009, when the fund was created.
Last year it also led one of the largest deals in the biotech sector in Spain's history, a €36.6M capital increase in Sanifit, which is developing a drug for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases related to calcification in patients with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD).
Ysios has made both seed and postIPO investments with the objective of balancing risk and liquidity. It also invests in different biotech sub-sectors with different time-to-market horizons, capital requirements and return risk traits.
In terms of the countries in which it has invested, in addition to Spain, we find countries such as the USA, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Great Britain.
Ysios aims to become an international benchmark investor in the biotechnology sector and the participation in Kala pharmaceuticals, being the largest financing round ever closed by Ysios reinforces this position.
Investments in 2016
In addition to the investment in the American company Kala pharmaceuticals, this year Ysios has also invested in the Spanish company Inbiomotion and in Aelix Therapeutics.
Ysios had already invested in Inbiomotion, leading the round in 2012, this time the round has been led by la Caixa.
Inbiomotion develops diagnostic assays to predict cancer patients' risk of bone metastasis.
Aelix Therapeutics, es una ‘spin off’ recién creada de Hivacat, especializada en el desarrollo de inmunoterapias contra la infección por el VIH.
In addition, as we mentioned in a post a few weeks ago, Ysios has added new investors to its fund. YsiosBioFundIIincluding theBanco Sabadell and some pension funds.
Divestments
Ysios has made a number of successful divestments such as the sale Swiss medical device company Endosense to US giant St.Jude Medical in 2013 for which it received €16M, three times more than it had invested.
For Ysios, Endosense was its second divestment, after it also exited Biovex, a Boston-based biotech specialising in cancer therapies, at a good profit in 2011.
Last year Ysios sold a minority stake in the company's share capital. AM-Pharmay an exclusive option to purchase the 100% from Pfizer.
Since its creation, AM-Pharma has raised €67 million, including €12.2 million in September 2014 to complete the development of the Phase II study of its recAP protein in patients with acute renal failure as well as to continue the development of an oral formulation of recAP for patients with ulcerative colitis.
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