Cleon Capital and Columbus Venture Partners announce the divestment of Spanish biotech company Algenex
- Insud’s acquisition of the company highlights the company’s progress and the approval of its first vaccine approved by the European Medicines Agency.
- Algenex’s investors include Columbus Venture Partners, Cleon Capital and other angel investors who will retain the licence to produce biocomponents and exploit it through the new company Cocoon Bioscience.
Madrid, October 10, 2022 – The shareholders of Algenex, a privately held biotechnology company backed by a group of families advised by Cleon Capital and leading Spanish biotech fund Columbus Venture Partners, today announced an agreement to sell Algenex to the pharmaceutical group Insud Pharma.
Algenex offers a wide range of solutions for the production of recombinant proteins for veterinary and human applications, such as vaccines, therapeutic molecules or diagnostic reagents. Its advanced proprietary CrisBioÒ technology is of enormous strategic value, as it enables a rapid response to pandemic situations. The production of biocomponents, recombinant proteins and enzymes used as ingredients in the formulation of cell culture media and industrial biotechnology processes is excluded from the scope of the transaction. Algenex’s partners will continue to develop this business unit independently through the newly created company Cocoon Bioscience.
Insud’s acquisition of the company validates the proprietary technology developed by Algenex, which has succeeded in assembling an exceptional team with a pioneering scientific project.
“In the last 4 years, despite the adverse context caused by Covid 19, the company has consolidated its position, has managed to transform a brilliant technology into a company with products validated by the European Medicines Agency and has set up a modern production plant, where it is already possible to produce a significant number of vaccine doses for different indications”, said José Escribano, scientific director and founder of the company.
“The closing of the sale to Insud Pharma allows us to value for the shareholder all the work done in recent years, together with the founder and the management team, and to look back and feel proud to have accompanied the company on this successful journey. From now on our journey continues with the new company Cocoon Bioscience, which will develop the biocomponents business with the support of Cleon Capital and Columbus Venture Partners”, said Nicola Zambon, Managing Partner of Cleon Capital.
Damià Tormo, Managing Partner of Columbus Venture Partners emphasizes “the importance of supporting and accompanying projects with a direct impact on society, it is a clear demonstration that there are many business projects with great potential in Spain and that with the right investment proposal it is possible to generate a high impact on society. We are very pleased with the acquisition of Algenex by Insud. We have found in Insud the right partner that will allow Algenex to expand its technology and product portfolio globally”.
About Algenex:
Algenex is a Spanish biotech company, backed by Cleon Capital and Columbus Venture, developing disruptive baculovirus-based technologies for the production of recombinant biologics.
Algenex’s first two platforms, TopBac® and CrisBio® have already demonstrated their ability to transform recombinant protein production through a process that provides almost unlimited and immediate manufacturing scalability, production flexibility, simplicity and high cost-effective versatility. Algenex technologies are applicable to a wide range of products for both human and animal health, as well as industrial biotechnology processes.
Algenex has successfully developed more than 250 molecules (including VLP-based vaccines, monomeric vaccines, diagnostic reagents, enzymes and growth factors) with public and private partners, including a number of international pharmaceutical companies.
About Cleon Capital Advisors:
Cleon Capital is an independent firm with a presence in Spain and Italy that works with entrepreneurs, managers and investors to help them develop successful business projects, providing them with solutions that combine flexible capital in amount and terms with corporate development services.
Cleon Capital is backed by around 50 family offices and successful entrepreneurs mainly from Spain and the rest of Europe. Cleon Capital currently participates in four companies, two in Spain (Grupo Dagu and Algenex) and two in Italy (Gias and Labomar, a company listed on the Italian stock market). In all projects, Cleon Capital actively collaborates with founders and managers to accelerate the development of their companies, with particular emphasis on international expansion and growth through acquisitions.
For more information, please visit www.cleoncapital.com
About Columbus Venture Partners:
Columbus Venture Partners is a Spanish venture capital firm that brings a unique approach to investing in outstanding opportunities in all stages of (bio)pharmaceutical drug development and advanced biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies. Columbus VP manages over $250 million between its three funds and has built an impressive track record of performance with recent successful divestments in Viralgen, Askbio, PTS, Sanifit or Recovid among others. Columbus’ professional team combines strong scientific, medical and business expertise with extensive experience in the field of corporate biotechnology.
For more information, please visit www.columbusvp.com