RCD advises Aelix Therapeutics on an €11.5M investment round to develop an HIV vaccine
RCD – Rousaud Costas Duran has advised the biotech company Aelix Therapeutics on an €11.5M investment round; the money will be used to develop an effective vaccine against the HIV virus. Ysios Capital, a Spanish investment fund, led the round. The fundraising was also supported by Caixa Capital Risc and the American fund Johnson & Johnson Innovation.
Aelix Therapeutics is a spin-off of HIVACAT, a joint public and private sector consortium, internationally recognized in the fight against AIDS, which is composed of medical institutions and leading AIDS research centres such as the Institute for AIDS Research IrsiCaixa, University Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol and the AIDS and Infectious Diseases Service at Barcelona’s Hospital Clinic. HIVACAT conducts research into the development of a new HIV vaccine, in conjunction with the pharmaceutical company ESTEVE, and with the support of the “la Caixa” Foundation, the autonomous Catalan government’s Department of Economy and Knowledge plus the Clinic Foundation at Barcelona’s Hospital Clinic (ICREA) and the Gloria Soler Foundation. This consortium is the first major collaboration attempt between a local government, research centres and private enterprise in this field.
RCD’s innovation team has led the legal advice on this transaction, considered a milestone in the public-private partnership in the field of biotechnology as RCD’s partner, Oscar Alegre, explains: “the funding round has resulted in the convergence of the interests of public research, pharmaceutical companies and specialized investors in the sector, both locally and internationally. The agreement was a challenge and the goodwill of all parties made it possible; it will certainly be a model for new projects in the future.”
RCD has wide experience advising public research institutions as well as biotech companies on technology transfer, public-private collaborative agreements, venture capital, regulatory issues, etc.
