f-star announces €8M extension of first round funding

Funding

f-star Biotechnologische has announced the closing of an €8 million extension to its first round funding, which was co-led by MP Healthcare Venture Management (MPH) and Merck Serono Ventures. f-star’s existing investors, comprising Atlas Venture, Aescap Venture, Novo Ventures and TVM Capital, also participated.

The new financing will support drug discovery and development based on f-star’s Modular Antibody Technology, which allows the engineering of new antigen binding sites into constant and variable domains of antibodies.

The platform technology has already led to the development of two promising molecular formats, Fcab and mAb2. Fcabs are about one third the size of immunoglobulin G (IgG), yet retain all normal antibody functions in terms of antigen binding, immune effector functions and long in vivo half life. mAb2 technology provides the opportunity to add additional functions, and increase the specificity, selectivity or potency of existing antibodies.

Kevin FitzGerald, CEO of f-star, said, “We have completed this significant investment round despite the current financial climate and I am pleased to welcome MPH and Merck Serono Ventures as new shareholders of f-star. Both [...] are investors with a strong strategic focus and the connections they have with their parent pharmaceutical organisations will provide valued support.”

Jeff Moore, Vice President MPH said, “After an extensive evaluation of next generation antibody companies, f-star stood out with its simple yet powerful technology which has the potential advantages of smaller protein scaffolds while retaining the significant benefits of traditional antibodies.”

This brings the amount raised by f-star since its formation in 2006 to €19 million. The company employs 20 staff at its research sites in Vienna and Cambridge.