Axiogenesis–Pluriomics: investment, 201709 merger into Ncardia

	Period	2017-09-18
	Successor	Ncardia–SEVERAL: investment, 201711 financing round Series B €10.5m led by new investor Épimède
	Money taker	Axiogenesis AG
	Today	Evotec AG, Cologne (former Ncardia AG / Axiogenesis team + IP)
	Group	Evotec (Group)
	Money source	Pluriomics (NL)
	Today	Ncardia Services B.V.
	Group	Kiniciti Bio (WCAS invesment platform) (Group)
	Product	iPSC technology (induced pluripotent stem cell technology)
	Product 2	venture capital
	Person	Braam, Stefan (Ncardia 201709– CEO before Pluriomics)
	Person 2	Fronhoff, Bernd (Axiogenesis 201603 CFO/COO)

Ncardia. (9/18/17). "Press Release: Ncardia Established Following Pluriomics Axiogenesis Merger". Gosselies, Cologne, Leiden & Philadelphia, PA.

Builds foundation to become the trusted leader in hiPSC based drug discovery solutions.

Ncardia (www.ncardia.com) has been established following the merger of Pluriomics and Axiogenesis. The privately held company with operations in Europe and the US, produces and commercializes high-quality, fully functional hiPSC derived cardiovascular and neuronal cell types and develops and realizes electrophysiology, biochemistry and contraction based assays for predictive safety pharmacology, toxicology testing and drug efficacy screenings.

Ncardia has secured an additional €4.25M from existing investors, Vesalius Biocapital, SFPI-FPIM and Sambrinvest as a direct result of the merger. Both scientific specialists & business units based in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and the US are focused on meeting the needs of customers in pharma and biotech sectors and have developed a pipeline of innovative products, services and solutions to position Ncardia as the trusted global leader in hiPSC based cardiac drug discovery & development. Dr. Stefan Braam, Pluriomics co-founder has been appointed CEO while Dr. Heribert Bohlen, Axiogenesis co-founder has been named CSO. Dr. Bernd Fronhoff will become COO.

“Establishing Ncardia was a strategic decision” said Stefan Braam CEO. “We are bringing the best of both organisations together – our people, products, services, industry knowledge and expertise to develop and generate more innovative stem cell based products and services to serve our customers at an even higher level than before. Our goal is to be the trusted global leader in the hiPSC drug discovery and development field so that Ncardia is the partner of choice for scientists operating in cardiovascular and neural safety and efficacy projects.”

By joining forces, Ncardia can provide assay solutions in a shorter time-frame which will help to accelerate and improve the discovery & development of efficient and safe drugs. The combined business allows Ncardia to build on over two decades of knowledge, stem cell product R&D and commercialization by Pluriomics and Axiogenesis respectively. It gives Ncardia further opportunities for growth in a rapidly developing marketplace.

Heribert Bohlen CSO added, “Combining the scientific excellence and expertise of Pluriomics and Axiogenesis boosts our R&D capabilities. It allows us to accelerate innovations within the cardiac drug discovery & development areas. He went on to say that “the combined specialist units will allow our customers to accelerate and improve drug candidate selection, lower costs, and ultimately increase drug development efficiency.“

Ncardia has more than 60 employees in Europe and the US. The combined teams will continue to engage with clients to develop and provide customers with a broad portfolio of cardiovascular cell models and services. These services range from disease modelling to cardiovascular drug efficacy screening to cardiac safety assessment and implementing Ncardia’s innovative and proprietary cell types in various screening platforms.

For more information visit Ncardia.com or contact:

Ncardia
Celine Hechard, PhD
celine.hechard@ncardia.com
+31 611195929

About Ncardia

Ncardia (www.ncardia.com) believes that stem cell technology will help to get better medicines to patients faster. The company develops, produces and commercializes highly predictive human cellular assay systems for safety and efficacy testing. The cardiac product portfolio encompasses a broad panel of hiPSC derived Cardiomyocytes (Pluricyte®, Cor.4U® and vCor.4U™) as well cardiac fibroblasts (FibroCor.4U™). In addition, the company delivers the Cardioplate™ product line of quality controlled ready to use assay plates. The neural cell portfolio contains the pan-neuronal product CNS.4U®, the peripheral neurons product Peri.4U®, and astrocyte product Astro.4U®.

Ncardia is committed to deliver its clients working assays solutions through in house assay development and extensive support. The company has a wide range of supported applications and compound assay services such as of electrophysiology, biochemistry and contraction based assays for predictive safety pharmacology and toxicology testing. In addition, Ncardia develops and provides its customers with a broad portfolio of cardiovascular services from disease modeling to cardiovascular drug efficacy screening.

Ncardia is based in Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany and in the USA. The company is privately held and established following the merger of Pluriomics and Axiogenesis.