Servier Canada, a subsidiary of France-headquartered pharmaceutical firm Servier, has contributed to a $21m funding round for Ilkos Therapeutics. a Canada-based biotechnology startup that is commercialising one of its therapies.
Quebec pension fund Fonds de solidarité FTQ and venture capital firm CTI Life Sciences Fund also participated in the round, which helped launch Ilkos. The three investors each made equal commitments.
Ilkos is working on a therapy for venous lower limb ulcers, a type of skin ulcer that predominantly affects the elderly. The company’s lead product candidate has successfuly completed a phase 1 clinical trial and will now advance into phase 2a clinical trials in North America and Europe.
Servier Canada will be responsible for coordinating and overseeing the trial through its Centre of Excellence in Clinical Research. The corporate licensed the compound to Ilkos after it was deprioritised in its R&D strategy.
Frédéric Fasano, CEO of Servier Canada; Danny Gagné, manager of FTQ’s life sciences portfolio; and Jean-François Leprince, managing partner at CTI, have joined Ilkos’ board of directors, which is chaired by Mark Beaudet, co-founder of pharmaceutical firm Paladin Labs.