Dutch biotech Leyden Labs nets €30M, just months after €20M EIB funding

Leiden-based Leyden Laboratories, a clinical-stage biotech company, has secured €30M in new equity financing from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund and Invest-NL.

The European Innovation Council Fund from the European Commission is a deep tech investor across all technologies. The EIC Fund aims to fill a critical financing gap and to support companies in the development and commercialisation of disruptive technologies. 

“The COVID-19 pandemic has underlined the critical importance of Europe’s preparedness for future health crises. With EIC Fund’s investment in Leyden Labs, we are backing pioneering science and innovative approaches to combat respiratory viruses,” says Svetoslava Georgieva,  Chair of the EIC Fund Board. 

The Dutch company will use the funds to advance its clinical development of its pan-influenza nasal spray (PanFlu) and broader mucosal pipeline and platform activities.  

“These latest investments build on the significant momentum in our fundraising efforts this year, including our $70M Series B announced in January and recent €20M EIB venture debt investment facilitated by the European Commission’s InvestEU initiative through its Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA),” says Marieke van der Lans, CFO of Leyden Labs.

The funding announcement comes three months after signing a €20M venture debt financing from the European Investment Bank (EIB).

Invest-NL is the National Promotional Institution of the Netherlands, committed to driving a sustainable and innovative future. They accelerate and finance major societal transitions in the fields of Agrifood, Biobased & Circular Economy, Deep Tech, Energy, and Life Sciences & Health.

“As the Dutch national promotional institution, we are proud to support Leyden Labs in its mission to stop respiratory viruses at the gate with a preventive, easy-to-use nasal spray. With unique science at its core, this company addresses a limitation of vaccines, protecting vulnerable groups such as the elderly and immunocompromised via nasal spray, especially during flu season or even pandemics,” says Ineke Cazander, investment principal at Invest-NL.

Leyden Labs: Developing nasal spray products

Founded in 2020 by Koenraad Wiedhaup and Ronald Brus, Leyden Labs is developing nasal spray products that deliver antibodies to the respiratory mucosa.

This approach targets viruses at the point of entry, before they reach systemic circulation. 

The company’s lead candidate, CR9114, is a human monoclonal antibody licensed from Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. and has shown protection against influenza in preclinical studies.

The antibody in PanFlu, called CR9114, is the most effective flu antibody found so far.

It can recognise many different flu viruses, making it promising for protecting against all types of flu, even ones we haven’t seen yet.

The team at Leyden Labs is using their knowledge of the respiratory system to show that this strong antibody can work well in the respiratory tract to fight off infections.

Leyden Labs’ strategy differs from traditional vaccines by focusing on respiratory entry points rather than internal immune responses.

The antibodies are intended to remain effective even as viruses change.

The Dutch company plans to use this approach in both seasonal outbreaks and pandemics to support broader efforts in viral prevention.

Leyden Labs is supported by a strong syndicate of investors and ambassadors; VC investors include GV (formerly Google Ventures), Casdin Capital, F-Prime Capital, ClavystBio (a life sciences venture investor established by Temasek), Polaris Partners, Qiming Venture Partners, Invus, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Byers Capital / Brook Byers and Bluebird Ventures.  

The company also received financing from the European Investment Bank, guaranteed by the European Commission’s InvestEU initiative through its Health Emergency Preparedness and Response (HERA).