Amakem, a new Flemish drug discovery company starts operations for treatments of major chronic diseases
Amakem and Devgen announced the closure of a EUR 1.5 million seed financing round and the contribution in kind of certain assets, intellectual property and know-how of Devgen's former pharma division. The financing round was led by LRM, through its ARKIV subsidiary KMOFIN. Other investors are Life Sciences Research Partners (LSRP) and VINNOF. Devgen obtains in return for its contribution a 21% share in Amakem.
Amakem was recently founded by Dirk Leysen, Olivier Defert and Nadya Kaval, three former Devgen medicinal chemists with a long track record in drug discovery, research and development. The founders decided to continue the development of a unique kinase inhibitor concept that they embarked upon during their Devgen tenure. Amakem's mission is to obtain a leading position in the discovery and development of safe and effective kinase inhibitors with localized activity and to create substantial value via an internal proprietary pipeline of drug candidates. Initially Amakem will focus on the development of local treatments for major chronic diseases such as glaucoma, allergic asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
The equity investments of EUR 1.5 million will allow Amakem to set-up operations, validate its kinase platform and generate early development candidates for its lead target indication.
Dirk Leysen (co-founder and CSO), Thierry Bogaert (Devgen), Nico Vandervelpen (LRM) and Kenneth Wils (VINNOF) will join Amakem's board of directors. The board will be chaired by Chris Buyse (LSRP).
"We are delighted to have concluded this seed financing round with a syndicate of experienced life sciences investors, backed by one of the leading Belgian biotech companies." says Dirk Leysen co-founder and CSO of Amakem - speaking in the name of the founding team.
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