Roche’s $446m acquisition of Inflazome, announced on 21 September, marks the latest exit for Netherlands-based Forbion, a venture capital firm focused initially on preclinical and early-stage biopharma. Early-stage companies and pipeline assets in Europe and the US will remain investment targets, through Forbion’s four in-house funds, and through a collaboration with BioGeneration Ventures, which closed its BGV IV fund in June at $119m. In July, Forbion announced the launch of a new investment vehicle – Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund – which expands the firm’s investments into late-stage European biopharma companies. Eli Lilly and Horizon Therapeutics, in addition to Pantheon, KfW Capital and the European Investment Fund, among others, have invested in the growth fund.
Inflazome was founded in 2016, and is developing two lead candidates that inhibit NLRP3, a protein involved in the activation...