Nuage Therapeutics raises €12M in seed financing, led by Sofinnova Partners and Asabys

• The technology developed by Nuage Therapeutics allows targeting intrinsically disordered proteins with drug-like small molecules
• The seed financing will advance the lead program, for castration resistant prostate cancer, and validate its drug discovery platform.
• Supported by leading European investors Sofinnova Partners and Asabys Partners

Barcelona, June 20th, 2023 - Nuage Therapeutics (“Nuage”), a biotech company developing a drug discovery engine for small molecule modulators of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs), announces today the successful closing of a €12 million Seed financing to support the development of its lead program and validate its pioneering drug discovery platform. The financing round was led by Sofinnova Partners, a leading European venture capital firm in life sciences, and Asabys, a venture capital firm based in Barcelona and specialized in the healthcare sector, with the participation of Innvierte, an investment program of CDTI Innovación, and BStartup.

Nuage is a spin-off of IRB Barcelona and ICREA, founded by the researchers Xavier Salvatella, Mateusz Biesaga, Denes Hnisz, and Judit Anido, who is now the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nuage. The company focuses on IDPs driving cancer, which has until recently been considered undruggable due to their lack of structure. The proprietary disruptive technological platform developed by Nuage, born from the convergence of biophysics and chemical biology, leverages the phenomenon of biomolecular condensation.

The company’s lead program is focused on castration resistant prostate cancer, the second leading cause of death related to cancer in men. It aims to develop a strong pipeline in other untreatable cancer indications.

Judit Anido, CEO of Nuage, comments “IDPs, which perform fundamental cellular functions, are implicated in numerous human diseases. They are perfect targets even though they were historically neglected having been considered undruggable. Our approach has the potential to enable treatment of a large number of patients with underserved diseases. We are thrilled to attract such strong investors, which reinforces our conviction that Nuage could lead the way in IDP targeting.”

Maina Bhaman, Partner at Sofinnova Partners, states “This investment in Nuage Therapeutics marks a milestone for Sofinnova Partners as our first investment in Spain. We are excited to extend our presence across Europe and partner with such a promising biotech company. Nuage's cutting-edge drug technology platform aligns perfectly with our mission of supporting innovative life sciences ventures, and we look forward to working closely with the team to drive advancements in the field of cancer therapeutics."

Asabys has supported Nuage since its inception in 2021 and was instrumental to building the company’s business strategy, its team and the investor syndicate. Asabys invests in Nuage through its vehicles Sabadell Asabys and Asabys Top Up Fund.

“When we met Nuage’s scientific founders we were impressed with the potential of their science and quickly wanted to help them build the next big thing, providing breakthrough treatments to challenging cancer indications,” explains Clara Campàs, Founding and Managing Partner at Asabys.

About Nuage Therapeutics
Founded by Xavier Salvatella, Mateusz Biesaga, Denes Hnisz and Judit Anido, Nuage Therapeutics is a spin-off from the IRB Barcelona and ICREA. Based at the Barcelona Science Park, Nuage Therapeutics develops drug screening assays to target intrinsically disordered proteins that undergo biomolecular condensation, thus providing new treatments for diseases currently considered difficult to treat. Part of the technology developed by Nuage Therapeutics has been funded by the Asociación Española contra el Cáncer (AECC) (Spanish Association Against Cancer), through its “AECC Innova” programme, and by ”la Caixa” Foundation, through its CaixaResearch Validate programme. For more information, please visit: www.nuagetx.com

About Sofinnova Partners
Sofinnova Partners is a leading European venture capital firm in life sciences, specializing in healthcare and sustainability. Based in Paris, London and Milan, the firm brings together a team of professionals from all over the world with strong scientific, medical, and business expertise. Sofinnova Partners is a hands-on company builder across the entire value chain of life sciences investments, from seed to later-stage. The firm actively partners with ambitious entrepreneurs as a lead or cornerstone investor to develop transformative innovations that have the potential to positively impact our collective future.
Founded in 1972, Sofinnova Partners is a deeply established venture capital firm in Europe, with 50 years of experience backing over 500 companies and creating market leaders around the globe. Today, Sofinnova Partners has over €2.5 billion under management. For more information, please visit: www.sofinnovapartners.com.

About Asabys Partners
Asabys Partners is a venture capital firm specialized in the healthcare sector, founded in 2018 by Josep Ll. Sanfeliu and Clara Campàs, participated by Alantra and with the support of Banc Sabadell as anchor investor. With close to €217 million in AUM and 14 portfolio companies (+1 exit), Asabys invests in highly innovative and disruptive companies covering unmet medical needs in the biopharma and healthtech verticals. The firm’s investment in the company comes from its vehicles Sabadell Asabys Health Innovation Investments SCR, SA, and Asabys Top Up Fund, FCR. The funds benefit from the financial backing of the European Union under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (“EFSI”) set up under the Investment Plan for Europe. The purpose of EFSI is to help support financing and implementing productive investments in the European Union and to ensure increased access to financing. For more information, please visit: www.asabys.com