- Financing co-led by Sunstone Life Science Ventures and Sound Bioventures with participation from Industrifonden, Innovestor’s Life Science Fund and P53 Invest
- Discovery of a novel mechanism with the potential to prevent the death of neurons in neurodegenerative diseases
- First-in-Class, Lead drug candidate advances into clinical development in a Phase 1b study
Aarhus, Denmark March 14th, 2023: Teitur Trophics (“Teitur”), a biotech company dedicated to developing new treatments for patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases, today announces the completion of a €28M Series A financing. The financing was co-led by Sunstone Life Science Ventures and Sound Bioventures, with participation from new investors, Industrifonden, Innovestor’s Life Science Fund and P53 Invest. The proceeds will enable Teitur to progress its lead drug candidate, TT-P34, from candidate selection into clinical development, including a Phase 1b clinical study in neurodegenerative diseases.
Teitur, a spin out from Aarhus University seeded by the BioInnovation Institute (“BII”) in 2020, has developed a platform of first-in-class cyclic peptides with a novel mechanism that preserves neuronal function. The peptides have the potential to treat patients suffering from a broad range of neurodegenerative diseases. Lead drug candidate, TT-P34 is administered subcutaneously and has shown potent, brain specific effects in animal models for Huntington’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease and Frontotemporal Dementia.
TT-P34 was developed from the sortilin-related Vps10p domain containing receptor (“SorCS2”) receptor and acts by targeting the three major pathophysiological hallmarks of neurodegeneration: mitochondrial failure, lysosomal dysfunction, and loss of pro-survival signaling. TT-P34 uniquely restores energy homeostasis in brain cells, induces clearance of toxic protein aggregates, and promotes neurotrophic effects, thereby supporting neuronal cell survival in neurodegenerative diseases.
Simon Mølgaard, Chief Executive Officer of Teitur Trophics said: “We are very pleased to welcome Sound Bioventures, Industrifonden, Innovestor’s Life Science Fund and P53 Invest to Teitur, who will join our existing investor, Sunstone Life Science Ventures. This investor syndicate creates a very strong and committed shareholder base with a track record of supporting successful next generation companies. The €28 million Series A investment further validates our vision for preserving neuronal function in the face of these devastating neurodegenerative disorders. The funding will allow us to take our first-in-class, lead drug candidate, TT-P34 from candidate selection into clinical development, while also advancing our novel pipeline of innovative, peptides. There is a pressing need for new therapies for neurodegenerative diseases which have a detrimental impact on millions of people’s lives around the world, with serious implications for quality of life and life expectancy.”
Søren Lemonius, General Partner at Sunstone Life Science Ventures, commented: “We are delighted to further support Teitur at this pivotal time of Company growth and development. Our passion is to enable and empower therapeutic innovation that has the ability to improve patient outcomes and we believe Teitur’s cyclic peptides is yet another excellent example of the breakthrough science coming out of the Scandinavian biotech ecosystem.”
Casper Breum, Managing Partner at Sound Bioventures added: “We are proud to support such an innovative Company that has the potential to make a meaningful impact against neurodegenerative diseases and improve the quality of life of patients, and we look forward to supporting the Company through its next stage of growth.”
In conjunction with the Series A financing, Charles Large will continue as Chairman of the Board at Teitur, while Søren Lemonius, Casper Breum, Fredrik Lehmann, Milla Koistinaho and Susanne Stuffers will join the Teitur Board of Directors.
For further information, please contact:
Optimum Strategic Communications
Hollie Vile, Richard Staines, Zoe Bolt
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3882 9621
Email: teitur@optimumcomms.com
About Teitur Trophics
Teitur Trophics, founded by Simon Molgaard, Anders Dalby, Mathias Ollendorff and Simon Glerup, is a biotech company that targets neurodegenerative diseases, based in Aarhus, Denmark. It is developing first-in-class circular peptides for treating neurodegenerative disorders where there are no treatments currently available, including Parkinson’s Disease, Frontotemporal Dementia and Huntington’s Disease. Its lead drug candidate, TT-P34 works by clearing the toxic protein deposits implicated in neurodegenerative diseases, restoring the function of mitochondria in affected brain cells and promoting pro-survival signaling. For more information, please visit: www.TeiturTrophics.com
About Sunstone Life Science Ventures
Sunstone Life Science Ventures is an independent European venture capital investment firm founded in 2007 by an international team of industry experts with combined entrepreneurial, operational and financial experience. Managing total funds of €500 million, Sunstone Life Science Ventures focuses on developing and expanding early‐stage Life Science companies with strong potential to achieve global success in their markets. Since the inception, Sunstone Life Science Ventures has invested in more than 50 companies in the areas of pharmaceuticals, medical technologies and diagnostics, and has completed more than 20 successful IPOs and large M&A transactions. For more information, please visit: https://sunstone.eu/
About Sound Bioventures
Sound Bioventures is a biotherapeutics focused venture fund, that invests in about-to-be clinical or clinical stage companies in Europe and USA, and with a strong foundation in the Nordic biotech ecosystem. Founded by a team of experienced life science investors and operators, the fund invests in projects addressing significant unmet medical needs having the potential for a profound impact on human health and healthcare systems.
For more information, please visit: www.soundbioventures.com
About Industrifonden
Industrifonden is Sweden’s Venture Capital Fund looking for unique, scalable innovation that has a meaningful impact on our society. Industrifonden manages more than SEK 5 billion and invest in early-stage companies, from seed to A-round funding with a reach across the Nordics. The investment focus includes specialized technologies and businesses within Deep Tech, Life Science and Transformative Tech. Industrifonden has an evergreen structure which allows a long-term focus on value creation. Read more at www.industrifonden.com
About Innovestor
Innovestor is a Finnish investment company focusing on venture capital and real estate. In addition, we offer corporate venturing services. The firm currently manages four VC funds with total capital of over €200 million. Consisting of almost 100 growth companies across multiple sectors of technology and life science & health, it represents one of the largest private venture-backed portfolios in the Nordics. Our mission is to make good money. For more information, visit www.innovestorgroup.com
About P53 Invest
P53 Invest is a Norwegian investment company that identifies and invests in healthcare companies that think new and disrupt the status quo. P53 seeks to contribute to the development and commercialization of ground-breaking ideas that transform people’s lives, increase accessibility to cutting-edge treatments and innovative healthcare solutions and create exceptional value for patients. For more information, please visit: www.p53.no