The News

gamma capital partners and Sofinnova Partners co-lead €3 million series-B financing round in Austrian Pro-Med

22/06/2004

Linz/Paris/Vienna, June 2004
gamma capital partners (Vienna, Austria) and Sofinnova Partners (Paris, France) announce the series Bfinancing of Austrian drug delivery company Pro-Med AG.

Austrian venture management firm gamma capital partners (gcp) and leading French VC Sofinnova Partners announce the closing of a series-B round for drug delivery firm Pro-Med AG.
Located in Linz, Austria, Pro-Med develops and markets SmartDose®, a simple to use "plug & play" disposable drug delivery system that efficiently addresses the growing needs for increased safety, improved ease of use and cost containment in controlled drug infusion. The present round was co-led by gamma capital partners and Sofinnova Partners. In 2002, Sofinnova invested in a series-A round.

Headed by CEO Tomas Svoboda, formerly with Boston Scientific, and non-executive Chairman Gérard Hascoët, founder and co-founder of several medical device ventures including Technomed and Sometec, Pro-Med capitalises on the SmartDose® technology. SmartDose® can address all types of infusion (intravenous, subcutaneous ...), irrigation, enteral or parenteral nutrition and is equipped with a unique and patented chemically powered source of energy (effervescent tablet effect) to precisely dispense liquid over a specific time with a predetermined or adjustable administration rate. The system easily accommodates currently marketed proprietary and generic pharmaceuticals.
SmartDose® provides patients, care providers and distributors with a simplified and more cost-effective workflow and
offers patients full mobility while safely dispensing drug fluid.

Pro-Med markets the system as an OEM product to leading pharmaceutical players. The product is adaptable so as to
respect the OEM partner’s unique infusion criteria regarding volume, flow duration, flow rate, material and accessories
etc. Pro-Med offers either a semi-finished or a finished product, depending on the partner's requirements. The
SmartDose® product can be provided empty, diluent pre-filled or drug pre-filled and will serve as an important
differentiator in today’s increasingly competitive drug market.

The present round totals €3 million, with an option on additional € 1 million venture debt leverage from public sources.
The funds will serve to finance market entry and the rapid scale-up of Pro-Med’s partnering programme with leading
pharmaceutical groups. CEO Tomas Svoboda: “This new cash will allow us to further develop a comprehensive product portfolio based on our unique technology as well as to conclude and execute several strategic partnerships. SmartDose® assures for the first time that the drug reconstitution, admixture and infusion is performed all the time exactly the same way as validated by the drug manufacturer - safely and reliably even when patients are the sole operators.” Gérard Hascoët adds: “Pro-Med is now entering a new phase of its development. After a period devoted to the extension of its range of products the company now possesses all ingredients to successfully enhance major partnerships.”

Burkhard Feurstein, Managing Partner of gcp, will join the Pro-Med board: “We are looking forward to working with the spirited team and Sofinnova in this exciting opportunity. SmartDose® is a real innovation in the infusion market, serving the needs of the pharmaceutical industry and patients alike. We are glad to support Pro-Med in this dynamic development phase.” Antoine Papiernik, Managing Partner, Life Sciences, of Sofinnova, adds “We are very pleased that gcp has joined us in this very promising company, at a time when Pro-Med is accelerating its cooperation with the pharmaceutical industry”.

For further information please contact:

gamma capital partners – The VenturePreneurs
Burkhard Feurstein and Nikolaus Spieckermann
office@gamma-capital.com
www.gamma-capital.com
Tel: +43-1-513 1072-0; Fax: +43-1-513 1072-200

SOFINNOVA Partners
Antoine Papiernik, Managing Partner
apapiernik@sofinnova.fr
Madeleine Resener, Media Relations
mresener@sofinnova.fr
www.sofinnova.fr
Tel: +33-1-5305 4100; Fax: +33-1-5305

 

Notes to Editors:

Company
Pro-Med AG was founded in 1997 and owns the worldwide rights, manufacturing line and all related technology for the SmartDose® technology. In 2002, Sofinnova invested in a series-A financing round, becoming the majority shareholder in the process. For more information, please visit www.smartdose.com.

Investors
gamma capital partners (gcp) is an Austrian Venture Management firm, investing in the medical equipment, life sciences and ICT industries. Founded in 2002, gcp is now the leading Austrian technology investor, with capital under management of close to €37 million in two funds and an investment team of six. gcp has a regional focus on the German speaking market and the new EU-markets bordering Austria. Targeting lead roles in the home market, gcp positions itself as a strong local partner for international VCs investing in Austria. The main focus is on early-stage and development situations. For more information, please visit www.gamma-capital.com.

Founded in Paris in 1972, Sofinnova Partners is one of Europe's leading independent venture capital firms. With €550 million under management, Sofinnova Partners invests in start-ups and early-stage companies in information technology and life sciences. Its investment strategy is based on two principles: Investing early in projects with a high potential; and acting as lead or co-lead investor. Sofinnova's investment team consists of 11 professionals, all recognised experts in their field, who bring valuable market insight and technical expertise to Sofinnova's portfolio companies. Since the firm is increasingly solicited for financing pan-European projects, half of Sofinnova's most recent fund, Sofinnova Capital IV, will be invested outside France.

People
Tomas Svoboda is CEO of Pro-Med. Prior, he held senior positions in business development and R&D/QA with Ares Serono, Boston Scientific and Haemonetics and has direct experience in medical equipment start-ups. Gerard Hascoët is non-executive Chairman of Pro-Med and works closely with Svoboda. Hascoët is a seasoned medical equipment entrepreneur and has founded, built and successfully sold several companies in the industry.

Burkhard Feurstein and Nikolaus Spieckermann structured the transaction on behalf of gcp. Antoine Papiernik led the
deal on behalf of Sofinnova. Both Feurstein and Papiernik are directors of the company.

Advisors
Gerald Schmidsberger of Saxinger, Chalupsky, Weber & Partner is the company’s lawyer and advised on the deal.