TargED raises 39 million to bring potential stroke medicine to patients

TargED Biopharmaceuticals, a private biotechnology company focused on developing improved treatments for thrombotic diseases, has raised 39 million to accelerate development of its lead compound, a clot-busting compound which binds to a protein present in all forms of thrombosis.

FIRST fund, co-founded by DCVA, has played a key role in the start-up of TargED and also participated in this second investment.

Photo Valorisation Rob De Ree

“The DCVA valorisation team is actively looking for opportunities to support the translation of groundbreaking cardiovascular research into a development path to patients”, Rob de Ree, Chair of Valorisation at the DCVA, explains. “The FIRST fund is a critical instrument for this strategy, providing funding for early research initiatives to achieve milestones which are critical for a next funding round for next steps in the development process.”

Impressive showcase
“TargED is an impressive showcase”, De Ree continues. “The initial FIRST funding to a strong scientific team leads to achieving milestones, within a year, which attracts premium international investors to further build a Dutch biotech company with a very promising lead compound. I would like to congratulate the TargED team with their excellent performance resulting in closing the round with a premium syndicate.”

Jolien Roos DSCF7297

Jolien Roos-Hesselink, managing-director of the DCVA: "An important goal of the Dutch CardioVascular Alliance is that promising research results will lead to new treatment options for patients that will be implemented in clinical care as soon as possible to reduce the disease burden. This impressive next step is, in our opinion, an excellent example of the importance of supporting and stimulating our researchers in the next steps bringing their scientific results into practice.”

About TargED
As a spin-off of the University Medical Center Utrecht, TargED was founded in July 2020 by:

  • Coen Maas, PhD, an expert in thrombosis and hemostasis;
  • Steven de Maat, PhD, an expert in recombinant protein development and optimization;
  • Marc van Moorsel, researcher with focus on acute ischemic stroke;
  • and Kristof Vercruysse, with more than twenty years of experience in bringing biopharmaceutical compounds from pre-clinical proof of concept to market.

About the investors
The financing was co-led by an international syndicate comprising Andera Partners, Fund+, Hadean Ventures, Inkef Capital and Sunstone Life Science Ventures, and joined by existing investors FIRST, managed by BioGeneration Ventures, Curie Capital and Utrecht Health Seed Fund. TargED will focus development on two initial indications: acquired Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia Purpura (aTTP) and Acute Ischemic Stroke (AIS).

About the cooperation and FIRST-investment
FIRST stands for Fonds InvesteringsRijpe Starters and was founded in 2020 by RegMed XB and DCVA to bridge the gap between research and business. The fund is supported by the government by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and, for the DCVA, the Dutch Heart Foundation. DCVA impact officer Margien Boels is actively looking for opportunities within the DCVA consortia and guides researchers through the next steps. Independent experts determine in which projects the FIRST fund invests.