Angelini Ventures
Freya Biosciences announces $38 Million funding in one of the largest Series A raises to advance women’s reproductive immunotherapies. Funding comes on the heels of positive top-line clinical results and will advance clinical development of its lead drug candidate
Freya Biosciences, a trans-Atlantic biotech company specializing in women's health, announced a $38 million Series A financing – one of the largest raises to advance women’s reproductive immunotherapies.
Angelini Ventures' investment is part of the total funding of $38 million, representing the "Series A round," the first phase of growth for Freya Biosciences. This round is led by Sofinnova Partners and OMX Ventures, along with participation from the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark, Mike Jafar Family Fund, CE-Ventures, Corundum Systems Biology, and Indaco Venture Partners.
With this investment, Freya Biosciences will advance clinical studies with initial focus on female infertility, develop its digital data platform designed to collect thousands of biological data to define more targeted therapies, and continue to strengthen its teams in Copenhagen and Boston.
We are very excited to announce Freya’s Series A fundraise, with the support of this dedicated team of investors. Conditions that disproportionately and differently affect women have traditionally been underfunded in proportion to its burden on human health. Freya’s initial focus is on the millions of couples around the world that are struggling with infertility. This funding enables us to advance our groundbreaking immunotherapy platform targeting the vaginal microbiota and unlock its therapeutic potential in this area and beyond.
Colleen Acosta,
One of Freya Biosciences' primary research areas focuses on the interaction between female fertility and the vaginal microbiota, composed of billions of microorganisms, predominantly bacteria. As infertility is often associated with microbiota imbalance (dysbiosis), where the presence of certain bacteria and viruses can trigger infections and immune reactions leading to inflammation, Freya is developing a microbial immunomodulating drug candidate derived from healthy female donors to resolve dysbiosis. Initial results from Freya's proof-of-concept clinical study show that the drug candidate is effective in restoring microbiota balance in women with dysbiosis within a few days.
With investments totaling €300 million - with over €70 million already planned in Europe and North America, with a focus on brain health and market segments targeting women, children, and the elderly - Angelini Ventures, established a year ago, aligns with the growth and innovation strategy of Angelini Industries. Angelini Industries is a multinational industrial group with 5,800 employees and revenues of €2 billion.
For the first time, thanks to this investment by Angelini Ventures, our Group is entering clinical research on female fertility. Women's health and, more generally, gender medicine deserve the utmost attention. That's why we have chosen to fund this company committed to developing new, effective, and personalized therapeutic solutions that address the well-being needs of women, especially the desire for maternity. Our commitment in this area is part of the overall strategy of the Group to be attentive to the needs of individuals and families in the various sectors it operates.
Prof. Sergio Marullo di Condojanni,
In recent years, scientific research has begun to shed light on the role of the vaginal microbiota: its alteration (dysbiosis), caused by a reduction in certain types of lactobacilli, "good" bacteria that normally populate it, and the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria that can lead to inflammation and infections, is a hallmark common to various clinical conditions such as infertility, endometriosis, and preterm pregnancies. The exact interaction and cause-and-effect relationships between the microbiota and these conditions are still the subject of research. In this context, clinical research aims to restore microbiota balance and observe its effects on women's health. Freya is developing a microbial immunomodulating drug candidate derived from healthy female donors to resolve dysbiosis. The procedure for obtaining the donor material to produce Freya’s drug candidate, as well as for administering the drug candidate to women with dysbiosis is minimally invasive and takes only a few minutes.
In a proof-of-concept clinical study, Freya observed that, within a few days, women with dysbiosis who had received the their drug candidate showed a restoration of physiological balance in the vaginal microbiota.
Freya is conducting cutting-edge clinical work with an innovative approach, relatively unexplored in the gynecological field. The initial positive results based on in-human studies using Freya’s microbial immunotherapy platform suggest that this can be an effective and targeted approach to address certain clinical conditions that share microbiota imbalance, such as infertility. With the investment in Freya, Angelini Ventures continues its journey to identify and support innovative and technologically advanced ideas in the life sciences field.
Paolo Di Giorgio,
With the new $38 million funding, Freya Biosciences will further develop its research to observe the effects of microbiota rebalancing on reproductive and women's health.
Freya's scientific committee includes professors and researchers from various high-profile universities and research centers, including Johns Hopkins University, Imperial College London, Harvard School of Public Health, London Women's Clinic, University of Arizona, Rigshospitalet, University of Antwerp, and the University of Trento.