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Finding The Exit: Forbion On Roche’s Acquisition Of Inflazome

 
• By Ben Comer

Two years after leading a $46m series B financing round in Inflazome, a four-year old Irish biotech developing oral NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitors, VC firm Forbion is celebrating Roche’s $446m acquisition of the company, which includes the potential for additional milestone payments. Forbion general partner Marco Boorsa, who joined Inflazome’s board of directors in November 2018, spoke with In Vivo about the VC firm’s investment strategy.

cytokine storm cell signalling vector horizontal background
• Source: Shutterstock

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...

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