Dutch biotech company Synerkine Pharma raises €3.5M to develop proteins for the treatment of chronic pain

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Netherlands-based Synerkine Pharma, a developer of fusion proteins for the treatment of chronic pain, announced that it has raised an additional €3.5M in a Series A extension round of funding.

In March 2019, the company had raised €3.3M in its Series A round from Thuja Capital, an undisclosed private investor, and the company’s founders.

Investors in this round

The current extension round was led by Flerie Invest, with support from existing investors Thuja Capital and Utrecht Holdings. Ted Fjällman, partner at Flerie Invest, will join the board of Synerkine Pharma.

Speaking on the development, Fjällman says, “Synerkine Pharma’s technology allows for a new class of fusion proteins to interact with the immune system and modulate disease in a wholly novel way. We’re excited to help on this journey and develop the platform for clinical Proof-of-Concept and expand to new patient needs.”

“Connecting cytokines for the benefit of patients”

Synerkine Pharma was founded in 2018 by Hans Preusting as a spin-off company from the University Medical Center Utrecht. It is a preclinical stage biotech company, developing a new class of cytokine fusion proteins to treat disorders such as chronic pain, osteoarthritis, and chemotherapy-induced neuropathy, which are all diseases with a high unmet need.

Currently, the company’s research and development pipeline contains two lead Synerkines. The first Synerkine connects IL-4 and IL-10 and has the potential to become a disease modifying therapy for the treatment of osteoarthritis and chronic pain. The second Synerkine connects IL-13 with IL-4, which has the potential to transform Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy.

According to the company, these cytokine fusion proteins have the potential to change the landscape of analgesics by providing long-term relief of chronic pain and reverse progression.

Capital utilisation

CEO Preusting says, “Since the closing of the initial Series A financing, we have made significant progress in the development of our novel proteins, including the manufacturing of our lead compound and the addition of a second fusion protein to our pipeline.” 

According to Preusting, the proceeds from this round will help the company to accelerate the development of the lead compound SK-01 to complete non-clinical studies, the scale up of the manufacturing process, and get it ready for clinical development.

About the lead investor

Flerie Invest is a biotech and pharma investor managing a portfolio of 20 companies in Sweden, the UK, the US, the Netherlands, Iceland, and Israel. The firm focuses on investment in drug development and tools for drug development. 

It was founded in 2010 by Thomas Eldered, who also co-founded and built Recipharm to be one of the top five CDMOs globally. Flerie Invest, with offices in Stockholm and London, is an active member of SwedenBIO and the British Venture Capital Association (BVCA).

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Vishal Singh

Vishal Singh is a News Reporter and Social Media Marketing Lead at Silicon Canals. He covers developments in the European startup ecosystem and oversees the publication's social media presence. Before joining Silicon Canals, Vishal gained experience at the Indian digital media outlet Inc42, contributing to its growth with insightful content. Despite being a college dropout, his passion for writing has driven his career in journalism.

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