LNC secure €6.5 million funding for microbiota-focused strategy – looking to IPO
The new round of funding, co-led by Seventure Partners, brings the total funding secured by LNC Theraputics since its creation in 2010 to a total of €16.5 million.
"This funding round of €6.5 million establishes LNC Therapeutics as a key player in the treatment of obesity and metabolic disorders through an action on the gut microbiota,” said CEO Jean-Luc Treillou.
The CEO said LNC’s recent clinical trial on obese patients indicated that visceral fat loss is linked to modulation of the gut microbiota – and specifically with a bacterial family known for its anti-obesity potential.
“Hence, our current objective is to develop new drug candidates whose mechanism of action requires an interaction with the gut microbiota and the intestinal membrane,” he said. “Targeted therapeutic indications include pathologies caused by excessive visceral fat accumulation and chronic inflammation such as obesity and NASH”.
Isabelle de Crémoux, CEO of Seventure Partners and founder of the Health For Life Capital fund, said Seventure is pleased to participate in the new round of investment and to have syndicated the Series C with other 'deep pocket' investors.
“LNC Therapeutics, a company we have supported since the Series A, chose to remain discreet over the last two years in the booming universe of the microbiome, to gain a foothold and consolidate its competitive position,” she said.
CSO equals IPO?
The firm also announced the appointment of cardiometabolic research specialist Sandrine Claus as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) to help lead its ‘ambitious’ microbiota-oriented strategy.
“Our new CSO, Dr Sandrine Claus, PhD, who is an expert of the role of gut microbiota in the development of metabolic disorders, is a strategic recruitment. Our strategic plan has now to be delivered and will drive us to an IPO by the end of 2019," said Treillou.
Claus' mission within LNC Therapeutics will be leading the R&D pipeline and the development of new treatments in the field of cardiometabolic diseases and other fields of investigation relating to bioactivity of some peptides.
"It is with great pleasure that I am joining LNC Therapeutics and its dynamic team,” she said. “It is an exciting time to join the company which owns a large pipeline of innovative patents related to gut microbiota activity, aimed at improving health outcomes.”
