Finland-based pharmaceutical company Forendo Pharma has raised €12m ($15m) in a series A round backed by investors including pharmaceutical firms Novo, Merck and Novartis.
Novartis and Merck invested through their respective corporate venturing subsidiaries Novartis Venture Fund and MS Ventures.
The round also included Finnvera, a finance company owned by the state of Finland, and Sweden-based academic technology development investor Karolinska Development.
The funding will be used to develop FP-5677, Forendo’s clinical candidate for the treatment of womb disease endometriosis. Forendo is also developing a treatment for low testosterone in men.
Novo Seeds, Novo’s seed-stage investment unit, Karolinska, Finnvera and Finnish state agency Tekes provided €10m in seed funding for Forendo in June 2013.