Biopharma startup Poxel, a France-based diabetes drug development firm spun off from biotechnology company Merck Serono, has raised €13m ($17m) in its series B round.
Venture capital firm Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners led the B round as a new investor, alongside InnoBio and Omnes Capital, the former venture unit of local bank Credit Agricole.
In July 2010, Poxel raised €16m ($19.7m) in its A round.
Merck Serono, which set up a corporate venturing unit last year, was not part of the A round but declined to say whether it had retained a stake in the business it set up the year before (management pictured).
Poxel’s A round was led by French venture capital firm Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners (EdRIP), with the €137m InnoBio fund, managed by CDC Entreprises and Credit Agricole Private Equity participating. Bionest Partners Finance advised Poxel on the fundraising.