The News

Hookipa Biotech Closes €7 million Series A Financing Led by Sofinnova Partners

17/10/2011

Vienna, Austria October 17, 2011 – Hookipa Biotech, a startup biotech company specialized in developing new generation vaccines, today announced that it has raised €7 million Series A financing led by Sofinnova Partners. Forbion Capital Partners joined the syndicate as the co-investor.

Founded in July 2011, in Austria, Hookipa Biotech has developed a proprietary technology platform, VaxwaveTM, dedicated to genetic vaccines for the prophylactic and therapeutic treatment of viral diseases. VaxwaveTM introduces a new approach to vaccination by providing long lasting and potent stimulation of both cellular and humoral immunity; the platform has been validated in different disease models. The company will use the Series A funds to advance its lead product HB101 through pre-clinical development and a Phase I proof of concept study, and to further industrialize and validate the VaxwaveTM technology.

Dr. Katherine Cohen, CEO of Hookipa Biotech commented: “I am excited to lead the company and thrilled to close our first financing round with renowned international venture capital investors. Sofinnova’s several decades of experience in building up successful biotech companies, and Forbion’s track record success and especially in-depth expertise in biologics and vaccine industry make both ideal partners for Hookipa Biotech. Together we share the vision of building a new, innovative class of vaccines. Our cutting edge VaxwaveTM technology platform introduces a new approach to vaccines and harbors the potential for meeting the tremendous needs of the pharmaceutical industry for the next generation of innovative vaccines.” “Effective vaccines inducing a potent combination of cellular and humoral immunity represent the next frontier in vaccinology. Hookipa’s Vaxwave™ technology addresses the industry’s current shortcomings, potentially paving the way for the treatment of numerous persistent viral infections. Sofinnova Partners will bring its expertise and open its network to the company; and I am thrilled to work alongside Katherine Cohen in building Hookipa Biotech’s success”, commented Graziano Seghezzi, Partner at Sofinnova Partners.

About Hookipa Biotech GmbH
Hookipa Biotech is a biotech startup company founded in July 2011 in Austria. The company utilizes its proprietary VaxwaveTM technology platform to develop genetic vaccines for the prophylactic and therapeutic treatment of diseases. Dr. Katherine Cohen, CEO of Hookipa Biotech was formerly Senior Vice President for Corporate & Business Development at Intercell AG. Hookipa Biotech is supported by industrial developers and a group of world class experts in vaccinology.

About Sofinnova Partners
Sofinnova Partners is an independent venture capital firm based in Paris, France. For 40 years, the firm has backed nearly 500 companies at different stages of their development – pure creations, spin-offs, as well as turnaround situations – and worked alongside Europe’s key entrepreneurs in the Life Sciences, Technology and Cleantech sectors. With €1.1 billion of funds under management, Sofinnova Partners’ experienced team and hands-on approach in building portfolio companies through to exit have created market leaders, from landmark historical investments including Genentech, Actelion and Vistaprint to more recent successes such as Corevalve, Novexel, Fovea, Movetis and Preglem. With a global mindset, the firm has a sister organization in San Francisco, California. For more information, please visit www.sofinnova.fr.

About Forbion Capital Partners
Forbion Capital Partners is a dedicated Life Sciences venture capital firm with offices in Naarden, The Netherlands, and Munich, Germany. Forbion invests in life sciences companies in drug discovery & development as well as in medical device companies addressing substantial unmet medical needs. Forbion’s investment team of nine investment professionals has built an impressive performance track record since the late nineties with successful investments in Rhein Biotech, Crucell, Neutec, Glycart, Borean, Impella, Alantos, Acorda, Fovea, PanGenetics, Argenta Discovery and Biovex. Current assets under management exceed 0M, split between three active funds and comprising some 28 promising portfolio companies. Forbion Capital Partners Fund II is supported by the European Investment Fund through its ERP and LfA facilities. Forbion co-manages Biogeneration Ventures, an early stage fund focused on (academic) spin-outs and seed investments in the Netherlands. For more information, please visit www.forbion.com. For more information, please contact: Anne Rein

STRATEGIES & IMAGE +33 (0)1 45 88 79 73
anne.rein@strategiesimage.com

Dr. Katherine Cohen Hookipa Biotech GmbH +43 660 4923 660 Hookipabiotech@gmail.com