Tromsø, Norway, and Dortmund, Germany – April 25th, 2024. KinSea Lead Discovery AS, a biopharmaceutical start-up pioneering the use of marine bioactives for the treatment of human diseases, announces the successful first closing of its seed financing round. It includes an equity investment from KHAN Technology Transfer Fund I GmbH & Co KG (KHAN-I), an early-stage life sciences venture fund based in Germany, and welcomes the new investor Berners AS, a North Norwegian investment company. A year ago, KinSea had already secured a convertible loan from KHAN-I, which was recently converted into shares.

The financing enables the company to further develop its lead program, a FLT3 kinase inhibitor based on unique chemistry from marine sources, towards preclinical and clinical testing. Data from in vivo proof-of-concept studies suggest superior properties over existing FLT3 inhibitors, including potential broad activity against known drug-induced and drug-resistant FLT3 mutations, improved selectivity, and outstanding in vivo potency. The program originates from the successful collaboration of the founding partners, Arctic University of Norway (UiT), University of Bergen (UiB), Norinnova, and Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC).

‘We are grateful for the continued confidence and support from KHAN-I, and delighted to welcome Berners AS on board’, says Jeanette Hammer Andersen, CEO of KinSea. ‘This first closing validates the transformative potential of our approach. We are very committed to take our FLT3 inhibitors through the next stages of drug discovery and development in order to provide entirely new treatment options for AML patients that are safer and more effective’.

KinSea also plans to gradually expand its drug discovery pipeline and establish a diversified portfolio of high-potential drug candidates based on novel chemical scaffolds from the Arctic Ocean for the treatment of cancer and other diseases.

‘We are excited to reaffirm our commitment to KinSea and its groundbreaking work in the field of marine-derived therapeutics. The team has made significant progress over the last year, and we are convinced that their unique approach and capable team will continue to drive the maturation and expansion of their pipeline, and eventually make a meaningful impact on patients’ lives, in particular with regard to urgently needed, improved therapies for AML patients’, comments Bert Klebl, Managing Director of KHAN-I.

Mats Sæverud, CEO of Berners AS, adds: ‘In KinSea, we found an ambitious startup company that wants to make an important impact by employing natural products from the Arctic Ocean. The KinSea team has bold visions, scalable solutions, excellent expertise and skills, and fits well with Berners´ ambitions.’

KinSea has already started discussions with further investors for a second and final closing.

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Contact
Lead Discovery Center GmbH
Otto-Hahn-Straße 15
44227 Dortmund
Germany
Phone: +49 231 97 42 70 00
Mail: pr@lead-discovery.de

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About KHAN-I

KHAN Technology Transfer Fund I GmbH & Co KG (KHAN-I) is an early-stage life sciences venture fund with €70 million under management. Our mission is to create value through cooperative drug development partnerships with academic innovators in Europe. KHAN-I focuses on first-in-class therapies for attractive markets with a high unmet medical need. The fund is managed by Khanu Management GmbH, an experienced team of professionals with proven track records in early-stage drug development and academic spin-offs as well as pharma licensing and partnering. KHAN-I received an investment from the European Investment Fund (EIF) with the support of InnovFin Equity, and with the financial backing of the European Union under Horizon 2020 Financial Instruments and the European Fund for Strategic Investments (“EFSI”) under the Investment Plan for Europe. KHANI is also supported by Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH (AWS with funds provided by the Austrian

Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs and the Austrian Foundation for Research, Technology, and Development), Max Planck Foundation, and Thyssen’sche Handelsgesellschaft mbH. In addition, KHAN-I sustains a preferred partnership with the Max-Planck Society (Max-Planck Gesellschaft e.V.).

Further information at www.khanu.de

About Berners AS

Berners AS is a newly established, privately owned investment company, based in Tromsø, Norway. Through investments and active ownership, Berners will contribute to the development of profitable and sustainable businesses, especially within the seafood and marine sector. We aim to be a supporter of the development of brands and competence clusters in Northern Norway. Our investment strategy is based on our knowledge and love for the coast and the sea, and the opportunities that exist there. Berners is owned by Triko AS (80%) and Larren Invest AS (20%).

About Norinnova

Norinnova is one of Northern Norway’s most competent and experienced agencies for research commercialization. Norinnova connects researchers, start-up environments, companies and commercial actors to develop and utilize the region’s innovation power. For more than 30 years, Norinnova has worked closely with researchers and leading research communities in Northern Norway to harness the power of innovation in this region. This collaboration has contributed to the creation of brand-new businesses and has reinforced existing companies through new products and services. Norinnova secures rights, helps provide funding, investigates market potential, finds relevant partners, and contributes so that the scientists can get their product or service to the market.

Further information available at: www.norinnova.no

About LDC

Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC) was established in 2008 by the technology transfer organization Max Planck Innovation, as a novel approach to capitalize on the potential of excellent basic research for the discovery of new therapies for diseases with high medical need. LDC takes on promising early-stage projects from academia and transforms them into innovative pharmaceutical leads and antibodies that reach initial proof-of-concept in animals as well as candidate nomination. In close collaboration with high-profile partners from research and industry, LDC is building a strong and growing portfolio of small molecule and antibody leads with exceptional medical and commercial potential.

LDC sustains a long-term partnership with the Max Planck Society and its institutes as well as with KHAN-I, and has formed alliances with AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck KGaA, Daiichi Sankyo, Qurient, InvIOS, Novo Nordisk, Cumulus Oncology, Nodus Oncology, JT Pharmaceuticals, KinSea Lead Discovery AS, HLB Pharma, the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, e.g. In addition, LDC also works with leading translational drug discovery centers and with various investors to provide its assets for company creation.

Further information available at: www.lead-discovery.de

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Project will receive €20 million in funding from the BMBF

Max Planck Innovation GmbH, the technology transfer agency of the Max Planck Society (MPG), announces today that its concept for a novel Drug Discovery and Development Center (DDC) will receive €20 million in funding from the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) through its initiative “BioPharma – The strategy competition for medicine of the future”. The DDC was selected as one of three winners that were presented today in Berlin by Frieder Meyer-Krahmer, State Secretary at the Ministry of Education and Research.

The DDC was jointly developed by Max Planck Innovation and Inventive Capital, a London-based financial services firm, as a novel approach to advance findings from excellent basic research into the development of novel medicines. It comprises two independent legal entities: the Lead Discovery Center (LDC) and a Development Company (DevCo).

The LDC, which has already started operations, will take on innovative research projects that have outstanding medical and commercial prospects but are not yet mature enough to attract professional co-development partners from industry. The LDC team will advance these projects throughout the drug discovery process up to pharmaceutical leads with proof-of-concept in animal models. By the end of this year, the LDC will be working on six projects, spanning a broad range of indications including cancer and diabetes.

The DevCo, which is expected to start operations in the course of 2009, can take leads from the LDC into subsequent drug development stages and initiate clinical studies in humans. Both companies – the LDC and the DevCo – will be staffed with industry-experienced scientists, project managers and drug developers to ensure that drug discovery and development is fully in line with international pharma standards. Thus, the DDC is set to deliver highly innovative and commercially attractive drug candidates that meet the strong demand of industry, physicians and patients for novel medicines.

“The DDC represents an entirely novel approach to technology transfer in Germany”, Jörn Erselius, CEO of Max Planck Innovation comments. “It is unique that a public research organization supports the set up of fully integrated drug discovery and development units and invests substantially into the discovery stage of high potential projects. The fact that the DDC was selected as a winner from a group of highly competitive project proposals validates our approach and highlights the excellence of the concept.”

“Moreover, with the BMBF funding, we will be able to build a pipeline of drug discovery and development projects that is sufficiently broad and diversified to ensure the DDC’s sustained success.” says Matthias Stein-Gerlach, DDC Project Leader at Max Planck Innovation. “Initial LDC projects are sourced from Max Planck Institutes. But in a second step, we are open to take on projects from various sources: universities, research organizations or industry. We are confident, that the DDC will soon become a new role model for highly efficient and professional cooperation between public research institutes and the pharmaceutical industry.”

The “BioPharma strategy competition for medicine of the future” is part of the BMBF’s “Pharmaceuticals Initiative for Germany” which aims to close the gaps in the value-added chain of drug development and strengthen R&D work on new medicines in Germany. The competition received a total of 37 applications, 10 of which reached the final round. Three of those were announced today as winners.

Notes to editors

About Max Planck Innovation

Max Planck Innovation advises and supports scientists of the Max Planck Society in evaluating inventions and filing patent applications. Max Planck Innovation markets patents and technologies to industry and coaches founders of new companies based on research results from Max Planck Institutes.

Every year, Max Planck Innovation evaluates about 150 inventions, of which about half lead to the filing of a patent application. Since 2000, Max Planck Innovation advised more than 35 spin-offs, closed more than 700 license deals and generated proceeds of more than 130 million Euros for inventors, institutes and the Max Planck Society. As a result, Max Planck Innovation is among the world\’s most successful technology transfer organizations. In June 2008, it was honoured for outstanding achievement in developing technology transfer and licensing with the IPTEC International Technology Transfer Award.

Max Planck Innovation was founded in 1970 as Garching Instrumente GmbH and operated under the name of Garching Innovation from 1993 to 2006.

Further information at: www.max-planck-innovation.de

About the Lead Discovery Center (LDC)

The Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC) was jointly developed by Max Planck Innovation and the Max Planck Society as a novel approach to advance findings from excellent basic research into the development of novel medicines. With a world-class team of drug discovery experts and seasoned managers, the LDC offers the full scope of drug discovery services – from target to lead – according to the highest industry standards. As an independent enterprise with an entrepreneurial outlook, it collaborates with research institutions, universities and industry to transform promising and early-stage projects into attractive in-licensing or co-development opportunities: pharmaceutical leads with initial proof-of-concept in animals that meet the increasing need for novel therapeutic agents.

Further information at: www.lead-discovery.de

About Inventive Capital

Inventive Capital Advisors LLP is an international financial services firm, which specializes in structuring and financing new venture capital funds. Inventive Capital develops innovative investment strategies, which capitalize on the proprietary deal flow and expertise found inside large corporations and research organizations. Inventive Capital was founded in 2005, is based in London, UK and Basel, Switzerland and develops alternative investment solutions in the life-science, ICT and energy sectors.

Contacts for Max Planck Innovation:

Dr Matthias Stein-Gerlach, Project Leader DDC

Tel: + 49 89 29 09 19-18, Email: stein-gerlach@max-planck-innovation.de

or

Dr Jörn Erselius, Managing Director

Tel: + 49 89 29 09 19-0, Email: erselius@max-planck-innovation.de

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Supporting the development of novel medicines in Germany

Max Planck Innovation GmbH, the technology transfer agency of the Max Planck Society, announces today the opening of its new subsidiary, the Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC). It will be based in Dortmund, Germany, and intends to employ a staff of 15-20 experienced drug discovery scientists, project managers, and technical assistants by the end of 2008.

As an independent enterprise with an entrepreneurial outlook, it will take on promising projects from public research and advance them through the drug discovery process up to pharmaceutical leads suited for direct application in preclinical and clinical studies. It will focus on widespread diseases including cancer, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular and other conditions where current therapies have proven insufficient. Initial projects will be sourced from Max Planck institutes, but the LDC remains open to findings from other public research organizations or industry.

“We have been working intensely with industry experts and investors to come up with a new, commercially viable concept to support the development of novel medicines in Germany”, Matthias Stein-Gerlach, LDC Project Leader at Max Planck Innovation comments. “It is with great confidence that we now open the LDC and hand it over to the excellent starting team we have been able to assemble over the last months.”

LDC merges the fields of biology, medicinal chemistry, and pharmacology under the umbrella of professional project management. Using novel therapeutic targets arising from basic research, the LDC team will first identify chemical substances with the desired inhibiting or modulating effect, and then optimize these agents to create chemical leads for pharmaceutical use. Typical LDC development efforts will yield pharmacological agents that fulfill all the criteria of drug candidates attractive to the biopharmaceutical industry for in-licensing or co-development. Until LDC can generate its own revenues from agreements with industry, various sources, including project based funding from the Max Planck Society, government subsidies, and donations will finance the LDC, ensuring the company’s sustained viability.

“In this way, the LDC provides for a new level of quality in early drug development,” Bert Klebl, CEO of the LDC says. “For the first time, we will be able to select the most promising findings from public research and develop them in line with international industry standards up to initial proof-of-concept without being limited by typical investment rules of capital markets. Because regular investment cycles are comparatively short and standard tools for the evaluation of risks and returns are inapplicable to early stages, many compelling projects have run out of money in recent years – regardless of their medical and commercial opportunity. The new, sustainable approach followed by the LDC will help overcome the bottle-neck in drug development, and I am excited to be part of it.”

The LDC forms an essential part of Max Planck Innovation’s Drug Development Center (DDC) that was selected for the final round of the “BioPharma strategy competition for medicine of the future”, a support program of the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Notes to editors

About Max Planck Innovation

Max Planck Innovation advises and supports scientists of the Max Planck Society in evaluating inventions and filing patent applications. Max Planck Innovation markets patents and technologies to industry and coaches founders of new companies based on research results from Max Planck Institutes.

Every year, Max Planck Innovation evaluates about 150 inventions, of which about half lead to the filing of a patent application. Since 2000, Max Planck Innovation advised about 35 spin-offs, closed more than 700 license deals and generated proceeds of more than 130 million Euros for inventors, institutes and the Max Planck Society. As a result, Max Planck Innovation is among the world\’s most successful technology transfer organizations.

Max Planck Innovation was founded in 1970 as Garching Instrumente GmbH and operated under the name of Garching Innovation from 1993 to 2006.

Contacts for Max Planck Innovation

Dr Matthias Stein-Gerlach, LDC Project Leader

Tel: + 49 89 29 09 19-18, Email: stein-gerlach@max-planck-innovation.de

or

Dr Jörn Erselius, Managing Director

Tel: +49 89 29 09 19-0, Email: erselius@max-planck-innovation.de

Contact for the Lead Discovery Center

Dr Bert Klebl, Managing Director LDC

Tel: +49 231 97 42-7000, Email: info@lead-discovery.de

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Max Planck Innovation GmbH, the technology transfer agency of the Max Planck Society, announces today that its concept for a novel Drug Discovery Center (DDC) has reached the final round of the “BioPharma – strategy competition for medicine of the future “, a support program of the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

The DDC was jointly developed by Max Planck Innovation and Inventive Capital, a London-based financial services firm , as a new approach to help translate research findings into novel medicines. With integrated know-how in the fields of biology, medicinal chemistry and pharmacology, it will take on promising inventions emanating from public research and advance them through the drug discovery process up to proof-of-concept in relevant animal models. From that stage on, it is envisaged that the DDC team takes over project management for preclinical and clinical development up to phase-II trials. In this way, the DDC will be able to move early research projects up the value chain and transform them into highly attractive in-licensing and co-development opportunities for the pharmaceutical industry.

“At the Max Planck Institutes, ideas flourish that have the potential to revolutionize the treatment of many diseases,” Jörn Erselius, Managing Director of Max Planck Innovation, comments. “But during our 30 years of history as mediator between science and industry, we have learnt that only few of them make it into advanced development stages because they are usually just too early to attract a professional development partner from industry.”

In close collaboration with pharmaceutical industry experts and venture capitalists, the DDC was deliberately designed to bridge this “translational gap”. Moreover, it will be led by a management team with a strong track record in drug discovery and development. Working processes, data management and quality control will be fully compatible with international industry standards and enable a smooth transition of DDC projects into a partner’s drug development environment.

“We are confident, that the DDC will soon become a premier source of highly innovative, advanced drug candidates. These cannot only help pharma companies sustain their pipelines but also provide new hope to patients who suffer from diseases that cannot sufficiently be treated so far,” Matthias Stein-Gerlach, Project Leader DDC at Max-Planck Innovation concludes.

The “BioPharma strategy competition for medicine of the future ” is part of the BMBF’s “Pharmaceuticals Initiative for Germany” which aims to close the gaps in the value-added chain of drug development and strengthen R&D work on new medicines in Germany. 10 projects out of 37 applications have now been selected for the final round and will receive funding for the further development of their concepts over the next four months. For the most promising concepts thereof, the BMBF has earmarked an overall funding of 100 million Euros over the next 5 years.

Notes to editors

About Max Planck Innovation

Max Planck Innovation advises and supports scientists of the Max Planck Society in evaluating inventions and filing patent applications. Max Planck Innovation markets patents and technologies to industry and coaches founders of new companies based on research results from Max Planck Institutes.

Every year, Max Planck Innovation evaluates about 150 inventions, of which about half lead to the filing of a patent application. Since 2000, Max Planck Innovation advised 40 spin-offs, closed more than 700 license deals and generated proceeds of more than 140 million Euros for inventors, institutes and the Max Planck Society. As a result, Max Planck Innovation is among the world’s most successful technology transfer organizations.

Max Planck Innovation was founded in 1970 as Garching Instrumente GmbH and operated under the name of Garching Innovation from 1993 to 2006.

About Inventive Capital

Inventive Capital Advisors LLP is an international financial services firm, which specialises in structuring and financing new venture capital funds. Inventive Capital develops innovative investment strategies, which capitalise on the proprietary deal flow and expertise found inside large corporations and research organisations.

Inventive Capital was founded in 2005, is based in London, UK and Basel, Switzerland and develops alternative investment solutions in the life-science, ICT and energy sectors.

Contacts for Max Planck Innovation

Dr Matthias Stein-Gerlach, Project Leader DDC

Tel: + 49 89 29 09 19-18, Email: stein-gerlach@max-planck-innovation.de

or

Dr Jörn Erselius, Managing Director

Tel: + 49 89 29 09 19-0, Email: erselius@max-planck-innovation.de

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