Venture capital firms Forbion Capital Partners, which spun out from Dutch bank ABN Amro at the end of 2006, and Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners have co-led a series A financing round in newly-launched Allecra Therapeutics.
The €15m ($20m) commitment will support early clinical development of two new antibiotic treatments designed to combat multi drug-resistant gram-negative bacteria. The investment is the first for Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners’ BioDiscovery 4, its fourth fund dedicated to life sciences.
Formed earlier this year in France and Germany, Allecra is a strategic partnership between India-based Orchid Chemicals & PharmaceuticalsIndia, the founders (including Allecra’s chief executive Nicholas Benedict) and the VC firms Forbion, Rothschild and peer EMBL Ventures.
Olivier Litzka, Rothschild partner and Allecra board director, said the partnership brought together Allecra’s development capability with Orchid’s track record in antibiotic research and manufacturing.
“Allecra is supported by a scientific advisory board consisting of world-renowned experts and Allecra’s board of directors comprises key appointments of entrepreneurs and industrialists with records of success in this area,” he said.
“After our successful experience in the anti-infectives space through the investment of the BioDiscovery funds in Novexel, we are convinced that Allecra has all the major ingredients for success.”