Leon-nanodrugs GmbH (LEON), a pharmatech company specializing in the development of nanoencapsulation systems for genetic material and other active substances, announced today the closing of a Series D financing round. New lead investor LBBW Venture Capital closed the round together with new investors and existing shareholders like Albany Private Equity Holdings Pty Ltd., CD-Venture GmbH, Eckenstein-Geigy-Stiftung, Signet Healthcare Partners, TVM Life Science Innovation I L.P., and others.
“I am very pleased that we have completed this financing in the planned amount. The new funds will be used to augment the product portfolio. Our portfolio of leading equipment is designed to serve the Cell & Gene Therapy industry, enabling highly economic GMP manufacturing of small and individualized batches of nanoencapsulated Cell & Gene Therapies. Together with the financing, this puts us in a good position to select the best possible strategic partner to bring those products to the market”, commented Christian Nafe, Managing Director & CFO of LEON.
LEON’s strongly differentiated systems offer significant USP’s filling current industry gaps:
- NANOscreen: bench-top system for simplified formulation screening
- NANOlab®: bench-top system for fast and efficient process development
- NANOme® : aseptic production system for high throughput small- and individualized scale
- GMP manufacturing requiring no cleaning and sterilization due to a single-use component
- NANOus® : large-scale production unit for commercial, sterile GMP batches.
The underlying FR-JET® reactor technology is prepared for the future versatility of carrier material and is optimized for minimal batch losses and no scaling out. It is included in all NANO-systems allowing to seamlessly scale up from process development to commercial manufacturing.
Dr. Frank Mühlenbeck, representing lead investor LBBW Venture Capital, will join LEON’s Supervisory Board. He stated: “LEON’s products allow the efficient development and production of new, upcoming modalities in the biopharma industry including LNP’s with a special focus on decentralized patient-specific treatments. In addition to this bench-to-bedside approach, LEON’s products also empower CDMOs, offering centralized manufacturing of such treatments. We completely understand the industry need for next-generation manufacturing solutions and are glad to support LEON in their effort to advance their products to commercialization.”
Dr. Hubert Birner, Managing Partner at TVM Life Science Management and Chairman of LEON’s Supervisory Board, stated: “As a long-standing investor in LEON, we welcome the investment of LBBW VC, as it comes at a pivotal time for LEON to facilitate use of our lead products in the market. While medicine of today embraces more and more Cell & Gene Therapies, a smart solution for cost-efficient, fast, and yet reliable and safe manufacturing is still required.”