La Caixa leads an investment round in Inbiomotion with the participation of Ysios Capital

”la Caixa” has led a 2.2 million Euro investment round in the Inbiomotion company. The investment has been made through Caixa Innvierte BioMed II, a vehicle managed by Caixa Capital Risc, the venture capital arm of ”la Caixa”. The fund is driven by ”la Caixa” and the Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial (Centre for Industrial Technological Development, CDTI) under the framework of the Innvierte Programme and has minority participation from the Institut Català de Finances.

Also participating in the Inbiomotion operation are Ysios Capital, the leading Spanish venture capital for the biotech sector, through its Ysios BioFund I fund, and Fundación Vila Casas, which were already shareholders of the company.

Doctor Roger Gomis, founder of Inbiomotion and one of the most renowned researchers in metastasis, says: “We are delighted to have the support of Caixa Capital Risc. This funding is a qualitative and quantitative leap forward for us that will allow us to complete the clinical validation and put Inbiomotion’s first product within the reach of patients”.

“We are excited to work with the Inbiomotion team. The development of diagnostic tests for predicting the risk that cancer patients may suffer from bone metastasis will have a great impact on the clinical practices for these patients”, states Jose Antonio Mesa, Director of Investments at Caixa Capital Risc.

Inbiomotion is a spin-off of the Institut de Recerca Biomèdica de Barcelona (Institute for Biomedical Research of Barcelona, IRB Barcelona), a centre associated with the Universitat de Barcelona, and the Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (Institute of Advanced Research and Studies of Catalonia, ICREA), led on a scientific level by Roger Gomis. Gomis is a researcher at ICREA, and the research that has given rise to this start-up has been funded, in part, by a grant from the ”la Caixa” Foundation.

Inbiomotion develops diagnostic tests for predicting the risk that cancer patients may suffer bone metastasis. Bone metastasis occurs when a tumour growing in another part of the patient’s body spreads out through the bloodstream, overcomes all of the body’s defences, and colonises itself in the bone. These metastatic cancers are usually highly aggressive, painful, and ultimately result in the patient’s death.

The target market for Inbiomotion is patients with prostate or breast cancer, where bone is the most common site for metastasis. Some 75% of women with metastatic breast cancer and 90% of men with metastatic prostate cancer develop bone metastasis during the course of their disease. This will also happen with 15-30% of patients with other types of tumours, such as lung, colon, stomach, uterine, rectal, thyroid, or kidney.

Methods of diagnosis

Currently there are no complementary treatments to chemotherapy to prevent bone metastasis because currently there is no diagnostic tool capable of specifically predicting bone metastasis. A product like the one from Inbiomotion would help rationalise the use of preventive therapies against metastasis, improve clinical practice, define the prognosis, and make it possible to apply personalised solutions to patients, as well as make better use of health care and drug resources.

Osteomet, the product developed by Inbiomotion, has already been validated in over 1300 samples of patients from independent cohorts in multiple countries, and the company’s main objective is to finish its clinical and regulatory development in the next 2 years.

About Caixa Capital Risc

Caixa Capital Risc, the venture capital arm of ”la Caixa”, invests in the early stages of innovative SMEs. To facilitate funding for companies in the start-up phase, ”la Caixa” 3 launched a set of specific initiatives and financial instruments in 2004. Caixa Capital Risc currently manages 160 million Euros through various specialised vehicles based on the sector and stage of growth of the project and has minority participation from the CDTI, the ICO, the ICF, and other agents. Although they invest in multi-sector companies with a global vision, Caixa Capital Risc remains focused on sectors they consider to be emerging: technology, digital industries, industrial technology, and life sciences. www.caixacapitalrisc.com

About Ysios Capital

Ysios Capital is a venture capital firm specialised in investments in companies in the life sciences field, particularly in biomedicine, diagnostics, and medical technologies. Founded in 2008, Ysios Capital has 130 million Euros under management, distributed into two funds. Its second fund, Ysios BioFund II Innvierte, has a target size of 100 million Euros and is open to new investors until March 2016. www.ysioscapital.com

About Inbiomotion

Inbiomotion SL, a company founded by Doctor Roger Gomis, who came from the Cancer Metastasis and Growth Control group of the Instituto de Investigación Biomédica (IRB Barcelona) and ICREA, is dedicated to developing biomarkers for predicting bone metastasis using biopsies of primary tumours. In July 2012, Inbiomotion concluded the first round of investment from Ysios Capital for a total of 2 million Euros. Inbiomotion’s unique biomarker codifies a nuclear protein and makes it possible to predict which patients will suffer from bone disease. The biomarker has been validated in over 900 samples of patients from two independent cohorts through three independent techniques (gene expression, IHC, and ISH), and has resulted in a negative predictive value of over 95%.