Novo Holdings REPAIR Impact Fund Invests USD 12 Million in Mutabilis and IBT Vaccines and Provides Strategic Update

‒ The Fund has now committed a total of USD 48 million to eight companies

‒ REPAIR to adjust strategic scope for 2020

‒ Global call for investment proposals will open during summer of 2020

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Jan. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Novo Holdings REPAIR Impact Fund announced a EUR 7 million investment in Mutabilis, a company developing novel antibacterials against Gram-negative infections based near Paris, France. This investment will allow the company to accelerate its 2G-Dabocins program, a wide spectrum Gram-negative anti-infective agent, which is currently undergoing lead optimization.

"We look forward to working with the team at Novo Holdings REPAIR Impact Fund. REPAIR's commitment to funding the development of novel antibiotics will provide us with the essential support we need to accelerate our lead asset to where it is most needed - the clinic as we strive to bring new antibiotics to the market to combat the growing threat of drug-resistant bacteria," said Stéphane Huguet, Mutabilis's Chief Executive Officer.

The REPAIR Impact Fund also announces an investment of USD 3.9 million in IBT Vaccines, a company focused on the discovery of novel vaccines for emerging infectious diseases based in Maryland, USA. IBT is developing IBT-V02, a vaccine for Staphylococcus aureus currently in late preclinical stage. IBT-V02 is a novel mode of action vaccine consisting of five toxoids with broad coverage and with a potential to be the first to market.

"Antibiotic resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality around the world. This partnership with Novo Holdings REPAIR Impact Fund will prove invaluable in advancing our efforts of delivering a new innovative class of preventive medicines to combat staphylococcal infections and reduce the burden of antibiotic resistance," said M. Javad Aman, PhD, President and Chief Scientific Officer of IBT.

Since the launch of the REPAIR Impact Fund in 2018, a total of USD 48 million has been invested in eight companies developing promising novel anti-infective therapies across modalities, geographies, pathogens and indications.

In the last two years, the REPAIR Impact fund has built a portfolio of eight companies based in Europe and USA, working across a wide range of modalities including four small molecules, two vaccines, one peptide and one oligonucleotide-based therapy. Of these companies, five address diseases caused by Gram-negative strains and the remaining three target Gram-positive strains.

Aleks Engel, Director of the REPAIR Impact Fund, commented: "We are thrilled to have Mutabilis and IBT Vaccines join the growing REPAIR Impact Fund portfolio. Both companies were selected amongst a talented pool of contenders based on their novel science and opportunity to address the vast unmet need of antimicrobial resistance."

Adjustment to strategic scope of REPAIR

Following four proposal rounds since its inception two years ago, Novo Holdings has screened more than 150 investment proposals and made eight investments. 2020 will see the REPAIR Impact Fund make adjustments to its strategic scope. 

Given the difficult funding environment for anti-infectives, the REPAIR Impact Fund will keep certain capital in reserve to potentially support funding for its portfolio companies Phase 2 clinical trials.  The Fund will continue to initially invest only in projects that are between lead optimization and Phase 1 clinical trials; however, this change in strategy will allow the REPAIR Impact Fund to continue to support its portfolio companies as they advance.

Aleks Engel, commented: "Based on experiences to date, we may slow down our early investments slightly in order to potentially advance projects further. Simultaneously we will now also consider proposals from anywhere on the globe and are very much looking forward to seeing those."

The exact dates for the 2020 global call will be announced in May on https://www.repair-impact-fund.com/investment-process/

More than 700,000 people die each year from infections resistant to most or all antibiotics, and the number is increasing by the day. Such infections are projected to kill more people than cancer by 2050. Global economic output is expected to be reduced by between 2% and 3.5% and to severely cripple modern medical and surgical advances. For this reason, Novo Holdings created the REPAIR Impact Fund to confront this pending global medical catastrophe.

About the REPAIR Impact Fund

The Fund invests in start-ups, early-stage companies and corporate spin-outs in Europe and the United States. It gives priority to first-in-class therapies, covering small molecules, biologics and new modalities, from the early stage of drug development (lead optimization) to the early stages of clinical development (Phase 1). It can invest as the sole investor or in a syndicate, with investments ranging from USD 1 million to USD 15 million.

The projects are selected through an investment process with support of a highly qualified Scientific Selection Board, comprising 10 world-class experts. For more information about members of the Scientific Selection Board, see www.repair-impact-fund.com/people.

The Fund focuses on priority pathogens as defined by the World Health Organization and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a catalogue of 18 families of bacterial and fungal pathogens that pose the greatest threat to human health. For more details about the investment process, see www.repair-impact-fund.com/investment-process.

REPAIR is an acronym: Replenishing and Enabling the Pipeline for Anti-Infective Resistance.

About Novo Holdings

Novo Seeds is the early stage investment arm of Novo Holdings. Novo Holdings A/S is a Danish private limited liability company wholly owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. It is the holding company of the Novo Group, comprising Novo Nordisk A/S, Novozymes A/S and NNIT A/S, and manages the Foundation's assets.

In addition to being the major shareholder in the Novo Group companies, Novo Holdings provides seed and venture capital to development-stage companies, takes significant ownership positions in well-established companies within life science and manages a broad portfolio of financial assets.

It is the vision of Novo Holdings to be recognized as a world-leading life science investor with a focus on creating long-term value. Read more at www.novoholdings.dk.

About Mutabilis

Mutabilis is a French biopharmaceutical company developing novel antibacterials against Gram-negative infections. Mutabilis has a unique expertise in diazabicyclooctane chemistry and its applications in the discovery of novel antibacterials and beta-lactamase inhibitors. With outstanding stability to hydrolysis by serine- and metallo-beta-lactamases, diazabicyclooctane derivatives are particularly promising to address the most difficult infections, namely those that are resistant to carbapenems. Mutabilis is based in Romainville, near Paris, France and has 27 employees, most of whom are dedicated to research and development. http://www.mutabilis.fr

About IBT Vaccines

IBT Vaccines is a wholly owned subsidiary of Integrated Biotherapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on the discovery of novel vaccines and therapies for emerging infectious diseases with a pipeline that includes promising product candidates for bacterial and viral infections including vaccines for Staphylococcal infections, unique pan-filovirus immunotherapeutics and vaccines, and a variety of other product candidates for emerging pathogens.  Located in Rockville, MD, IBT has a close working relationship with United States Government agencies including the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID/NIH). National Cancer Research Institute (NCI), Department of Defense (DOD), United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infection Diseases (USAMRIID) as well as many biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and academic laboratories. For more information, visit www.integratedbiotherapeutics.com