€47m for rare disease biotech

Dynacure, which was founded in 2016 by Kurma Partners, SATT Conectus and Ionis Pharmaceuticals as a spin-off from the Institute of Genetic and Molecular and Cellular Biology in Strasbourg, develops new treatments for patients affected by serious orphan disorders. The biotech focuses on seeking treatments for centronuclear myopathies, a group of rare genetic muscular disorders.

The money will go to the clinical development of Dynacure’s lead drug programme, Dyn101, an antisense oligonucleotide therapy in development for the rare and often fatal muscle disease centronuclear myopathy. Dyn101 is being developed in collaboration with Ionis Pharmaceuticals.

The financing round was led by Andera Partners (formerly Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners). Other investors were Pontifax, Bpifrance, Kurma Partners and IdInvest Partners.

“CNM is a devastating disease with no effective treatment, and through a clinical development programme informed by our ongoing natural history study, we will pursue a mission to transform the lives of patients and families affected by CNM,” said Stephane van Rooijen, chief executive officer of Dynacure. “We are grateful for the tremendous support of our investors, which is a testament to the progress we have made in advancing Dyn101 through preclinical development.”

“In line with our strategy to support transformative technologies, we are thrilled to join Dynacure in advancing its mission to create first-ever treatments for severe orphan disorders,” added Raphael Wisniewski, partner at Andera Partners. “Dynacure’s scientific expertise and its compelling preclinical data are matched by the management it has assembled to steer development of its clinical and research programmes.”