Transgene, a France-based biopharmaceutical company, has participated in the first private equity round of local start-up Elsalys Biotech, a developer of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of cancers and other chronic infectious diseases.
Philippe Archinard, executive chairman of Transgene, said: “Through our equity investment in Elsalys Biotech, we keep a stand in the promising field of monoclonal antibodies without changing our strategic focus.”
Other investors are the French private equity investment firm Sofimac Partners and the founding managers and former executives of Transgene. Sofimac Partners and Transgene are the largest shareholders, although each with a minority holding, and the investment amounts are unspecified.
Elsalys’s portfolio of four projects has been issued by EFS, Curie Institute, Tumor Institute of Turin and SATT-Sud Est.