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First closing of KHAN Technology Transfer Fund II GmbH & Co KG "KHAN-II"

Dortmund, Munich, Mülheim a.d. Ruhr/Germany, Luxembourg/Luxembourg, Princeton/USA, February 5th, 2025 – Khanu Fondsverwaltung GmbH (Khanu), a drug discovery focused fund management team, announces the first closing in fundraising for KHAN Technology Transfer Fund II GmbH & Co KG (KHAN-II), the follower fund of KHAN-I (vintage year 2019).

As limited partners of KHAN-II, the European Investment Fund (EIF, Luxembourg), Akros Pharma Inc. (USA), the Max Planck Foundation (Germany), the Thyssen’sche Handelsgesellschaft (Germany), and KHAN-II Vermögensverwaltung committed in a first closing to invest a total of EUR 51 million for early-stage drug discovery investments. Khanu was established as general partner. An additional closing is planned this year to target a total of EUR 100 million.
Assets will be sourced predominantly from academia in Germany (such as Max Planck Institutes, among others) and Europe, focusing on innovative therapeutic opportunities in indications with high unmet medical need. Project investments will be made and executed at the Lead Discovery Center GmbH, Dortmund (LDC), a professional drug discovery and translational research incubator with a proven track record (www.lead-discovery.de). KHAN-II will also invest opportunistically into early-stage companies and spin-offs, providing structuring of the founding process if needed.
Very significantly – and building on the preferred partnership with the Max Planck Society (MPG) , Germany’s largest basic research organisation – KHAN-II has signed a co-investment agreement with MPG, adding EUR 18 million of co-funding for drug discovery projects originating from the world-class biomedical research of the Max Planck Institutes.
“Based on the first closing, we are now inviting other investors to meet KHAN-II’s target of EUR 100 million, for which an additional public commitment is already in place, to be matched with private capital. With their commitments, our trusted KHAN-II limited partners continuously contribute to the high-quality and successful performance of our powerful translational ecosystem. All of these financial efforts will accelerate our drug discovery and development ambitions to provide future medications for patients in need,” states Bert Klebl, Managing Director of Khanu and LDC. “We are highly motivated and excited that KHAN-II will enable the transfer of further promising early-stage drug discovery assets into translation, thereby creating new treatment options for patients,” adds Michael Hamacher, also Managing Director of Khanu and LDC.
“We are delighted to see the launch of KHAN-II, which builds upon the solid foundation laid by KHAN-I, and further strengthens the commitment to advancing early-stage drug discovery for the benefit of society and patients. This new fund will drive cutting-edge projects, particularly from the world-class research of the Max Planck Institutes, to bring transformative innovations closer to clinical application,” says Bram Wijlands, Managing Director of Max Planck Innovation, the technology transfer organization of the MPG.
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Contact: pr@lead-discovery.de (For KHAN-II)
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About KHAN Technology Transfer Fund II (KHAN-II) and Khanu Fondsverwaltung GmbH (Khanu)
KHAN Technology Transfer Fund II (KHAN-II) is an early-stage life sciences venture fund. Our mission is to create value through cooperative drug development partnerships with academic innovators in Europe. KHAN-II focuses on first-in-class therapies for attractive markets with a high unmet medical need. KHAN-II has unique access to cutting-edge scientific research at Max Planck and leading European academia. KHAN-II is managed by Khanu Fondsverwaltung GmbH, a world class drug discovery and fund team, having access to the state-of-the-art drug discovery incubator Lead Discovery Center GmbH, achieving an exceptional low attrition rate and effective investments.
For more information, please contact info@khanu.de
About the European Investment Fund (EIF)
The fund is supported by an investment from the EIF, with the support of:
- InvestEU Equity, with the financial backing of the European Union. InvestEU Fund supports private and public investments in four policy areas that represent important priorities for the Union and bring high EU added value: sustainable infrastructure; research, innovation and digitisation; small and medium-sized businesses; and social investment and skills.
- The ERP-EIF Facility, with the financial backing of the German Federal Government. The ERP-EIF Facility is a partnership between the German Federal Government and the EIF, managed by the EIF, providing venture and growth capital financing with a focus on high-tech early- and later-stage companies in Germany.
Further information available at:
About Max Planck Foundation
The Max Planck Foundation is a private, independent and non-profit organization with the sole purpose of providing funds for excellent, innovative and forward-looking research projects of the Max Planck Society. As additional support for scientists from the Max Planck Society the Foundation also facilitates the transfer from knowledge to application. The foundation was established in 2006 and the assets of the foundation are currently around EUR 725 million.
Further information available at: www.maxplanckfoundation.org
About Akros Pharma Inc.
Akros Pharma Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of JT America, which is, in turn, a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan Tobacco Inc., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Akros Pharma Inc. is recognized in the pharmaceutical industry for its innovative drug discovery and development. The company is committed to developing new pharmaceutical products for the U.S. and global markets.
Further information available at: www.akrospharma.com
About Thyssen’sche Handelsgesellschaft
Thyssen’sche Handelsgesellschaft (THG) is a German single-family office and a highly renowned investor with roots in the Julius Thyssen family. THG is located in Muelheim an der Ruhr, follows a long-term investment approach and owns a highly diversified set of portfolio companies in different industry segments.
About Lead Discovery Center
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 as well as with the KHAN Technology Transfer Funds I + II. It has formed alliances with AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck KGaA, Qurient, invIOS, Cumulus Oncology, Nodus Oncology, JT Pharmaceuticals, KinSea Lead Discovery AS, HLB Life Science, the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, etc. In addition, LDC also works with leading translational drug discovery centres and with various investors to provide its assets for company creation.
Further information available at: www.lead-discovery.de
About Max Planck Innovation
Max Planck Innovation (MI) is responsible for the technology transfer of the Max Planck Society and, as such, the link between industry and basic research. With an interdisciplinary team, MI advises and supports scientists at Max Planck Institutes in evaluating their inventions, filing patents and founding companies. MI offers industry unique access to the innovations of the Max Planck Institutes. Thus, MI performs an important task: the transfer of basic research results into products that contribute to economic and social progress.
Further information available at: www.max-planck-innovation.com