Pharnext Raises €4.8 million

Pharnext Raises €4.8 million from Truffle Capital, a co-founding investor, Aurinvest and Financière Boscary: A group of experienced entrepreneurs with acknowledged business expertise.

Paris, June 9th, 2010 - Pharnext SAS, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of innovative treatments based on Pleotherapy™ for severe neurological diseases, today announced that it had closed a €4.8-million Series A round of funding on June 3rd (corresponding to a company valuation of €45 million). Part of the fresh investment was provided by Pharnext's co-founding investor Truffle Capital, which remains the majority shareholder. The remaining were contributed by Aurinvest Capital 2, Financière Boscary and a group of some of France's best-known entrepreneurs - Charles Beigbeder (founder of Selftrade, Poweo, Audacia and AgroGeneration), Claude Darmon (former President of the CEGELEC group) and Olivier Fulconis (former Executive VP and Chief Marketing Officer at Converteam).


This round of fundraising will enable Pharnext to consider launching the first-in-man clinical trials of its Pleodrug™ in the treatment of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease before the end of 2010. Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is a chronic, severe, invalidating neuromuscular disease which affects 3 million people worldwide and for which there is no cure at present. The fundraising will also help initiate and/or continue in vitro and in vivo research programmes on the use of Pleodrugs™ in other serious pathologies: Alzheimer's disease, chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, polycystic kidney disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, hyperlipidaemia and diabetes.

"We are delighted to have closed this first round of fundraising and are pleased to welcome our new shareholders Aurinvest,Financière Boscary and a group of well-known, successful entrepreneurs. They have recognized the potential of our scientific approach, our staff's expertise and the pertinence of our strategic vision. We particularly thank our co-founding investor Truffle Capital for its unconditional support", commented Professor Daniel Cohen, Pharnext's founder, President and CEO and a pioneer in human genome mapping. "These funds will enable us to implement and execute the first-in-man clinical trials of our Pleodrug™ in the treatment of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. This is a key milestone for the company, which has grown rapidly since its incorporation less than three years ago (December 2007). The investment will also help accelerate our research into Pleodrugs™ for six other serious diseases", concluded Professor Cohen.

"At Truffle Capital, we were immediately convinced by the quality, potential and coherence of the Pharnext project, built on internationally acknowledged talent. We unhesitatingly decided to renew our support for an exceptional company with a very bright future", added Philippe Pouletty MD, co-founder of Pharnext and CEO of Truffle Capital.

Pharnext has particularly solid financial foundations:
- a €2.5-million round of seed fundraising with Truffle Capital (December 2007).
- two agreements with the pharmaceutical group Ipsen, potentially worth up to €94 million in upfront and milestone payments (June 2009).
- an initial grant for work on Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease from Oséo, the French state innovation agency (2007).
- a grant from the French Muscular Dystrophy Association (AFM, 2009).

Pharnext has designed a novel, proprietary platform (Pleotherapy™) based on network pharmacology. The company's discovery engine identifies rational drug combinations (Pleodrugs™) made up of individual Pleocompounds™. This innovative approach could provide a solution to the ongoing and worrying decline in pharmaceutical pipeline productivity.


About Pharnext
Pharnext is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and licensing new pharmaceutical treatments based on intelligent Pleocompounds™ that form the basis of Pleodrugs™. Pharnext was founded in Paris, France in April, 2007, by Professor Daniel Cohen, MD, PhD, his research group (composed of pioneers in genome science and technology) and Philippe Pouletty, MD (General Partner at Truffle Capital). Thanks to Truffle Capital's founding investment, strong support from OSEO, a grant from the French Muscular Dystrophy Association (AFM) and the benefits of France's research tax credit scheme, Pharnext has developed a novel, proprietary platform (PleotherapyTM) based on network pharmacology and which may provide a solution for the current decline in pharmaceutical pipeline productivity. Pharnext is advised by La Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild.

Certain statements contained in the present press release may be forward-looking statements based on current expectations. As such, they involve various risks and uncertainties.