Anokion Closes Financing Round for CHF 33 Million

Anokion has announced the successful closure of Series A financing round for CHF 33 million ($37.5 million). A group of leading life sciences venture capitalists, consisting of Novartis Venture Fund, Novo Ventures and Versant Ventures, co-led the financing with additional participation by private investors.

The spin-off from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) has developed a technology for retraining white blood cells to induce therapeutic immune tolerance. Anokion will use the funds to develop clinical candidates in the areas of immune-masked protein therapeutics, autoimmune and allergic diseases. First clinical trials are planned for 2017.

Following the closure of the financing round, Florent Gros (Managing Director of Novartis Venture Fund), Jack Nielsen (Partner at Novo Ventures), and Tom Woiwode (Managing Director at Versant Ventures) joined the Board of Directors. In addition, André J. Mueller and Harry Welten joined the Board as Independent Directors. Jens Kurth, who most recently directed Novartis’ key biologics projects, joins the management team as Chief Technology Officer. Jens has an extensive track record in the pharmaceutical industry in driving the development, regulatory approval, and commercialization of new drugs.

Jeff Hubbell, Professor and founder of the Institute of Bioengineering at the EPFL, Professor at the Institute of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago, and academic founder of Anokion, commented: “We are delighted that leading biotech venture funds have recognised the value and potential of our antigen-specific immune tolerance technology. We now have the necessary financial means to develop promising product candidates.” Jeff will also serve as a member of the Board of Directors. He added: “We look forward to working with the new members in the Board of Directors and management team. They complement the strong scientific backbone of Anokion and bring proven business expertise as well as a strong industry network into our company.”