F-Star, previously backed by Merck Serono Ventures, signed a deal with the corporate venturing unit’s Germany-based parent, Merck Serono, yesterday to collaborate on the discovery and development of treatments for inflammatory disease. The tie-up could be worth more than €492m ($691.4m) to F-Star if it meets certain milestones, and it would also be eligible for tiered royalties, a statement said.
Susan Herbert, head of portfolio development at Merck Serono, said: "We are very pleased to see our investment in F-Star through Merck Serono Ventures mature into a strategic collaboration, which reinforces our commitment to deliver innovative treatments in the area of inflammatory diseases. We believe that F-Star’s Modular Antibody Technology has the potential to offer important functional advantages over conventional antibodies and will potentially allow us to generate highly differentiated drugs for patients with so far unmet medical needs." Merck Serono co-led F-Star’s €8m series A extension financing in 2010 and also invested in a 15m funding round by F-Star in April this year.
The company was founded in 2006 and has raised about €34m from its venture backers, which also include MP Healthcare Venture Management, , a jointly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma and its parent company Mitsubishi Chemical, and SR One, the corporate venturing unit of GlaxoSmithKline.
F-Star is also backed by venture and corporate investors Atlas Venture, Aescap Venture, Novo Ventures and TVM Capital, The company employs 24 staff in Vienna and Cambridge.