Denmark-based antibody drug conjugate (ADC) developer Adcendo completed a €51m ($61.7m) series A round yesterday co-led by pharmaceutical firm Novo through its Novo Seeds subsidiary.
Venture capital firm Ysios Capital co-led the round, which also featured investment management firm RA Capital Management, VC firm HealthCap and healthcare investment firm Gilde Healthcare.
Adcendo is developing ADCs intended to treat cancer, and its drug candidates are targeting the uPARAP cell-surface receptor. The round follows a grant from Novo’s owner, Novo Nordisk Foundation.
The company was incubated at BioInnovation Institute where it received its first funding, and its technology is based on research at University of Copenhagen and the Finsen Laboratory in the Rigshospitalet hospital in Copenhagen.
Novo Seeds principal Jeroen Bakker has taken a board seat at Adcendo in conjunction with the round. He said: “We are proud to have been involved with the company since its early days and are very impressed with the progress achieved to date.
“We are very pleased to now co-lead this strong investment, building on the founders’ early-stage research at The Finsen Laboratory to develop Adcendo into a world leading ADC player with a pipeline of exciting novel ADC drugs.”
