Nuage Therapeutics, the spin-off from IRB Barcelona and ICREA, is launched with the support of Asabys

Nuage Therapeutics has announced the closing of a financing round by Sabadell Asabys, the investment vehicle managed by Asabys Partners. With this injection of capital, the spin-off will start its work discovering drugs aimed at therapeutic targets currently considered undruggable.

The company was created by IRB Barcelona, ICREA, and the researchers Xavier Salvatella and Mateusz Biesaga, together with Denes Hnisz, from the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin (Germany). The team is completed by Georgina Sorrosal, Head of Operations, and Jordina Guillén, Head of Research.

The scientists behind Nuage Therapeutics have spent years investigating target proteins currently considered undruggable due to their unique structural properties. These targets have common surprising features, namely they are disordered, and can exert their activity through the formation of biomolecular condensates—dynamic protein droplets that regulate key processes and whose function is altered in several diseases.

Based at the Barcelona Science Park, Nuage Therapeutics uses a proprietary assay to discover new drugs for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer. Further pre-clinical programs will be announced in the coming months.

The financing provided by Sabadell Asabys will be added to other resources under negotiation with local and international funds until the closing of a financing round where Asabys will also participate.

“It is now time to leverage what we have learnt about intrinsically disordered proteins and their condensation properties to discover new drugs. We are delighted to have Asabys supporting Nuage Therapeutics”, says Dr. Salvatella.

Clara Campàs, founding partner of Asabys, adds, “This operation reflects the strategy followed by Sabadell Asabys to invest in early-stage initiatives of outstanding scientific quality, like Nuage Therapeutics. This technology allows drug discovery in a totally different way than what we have seen until now.”

Dr. Francesc Posas, Director of IRB Barcelona, says, “Nuage Therapeutics is IRB Barcelona’s seventh spin-off and it reflects the commitment of the institute to driving the medicine of the future. We firmly believe the results of research translate into a benefit for society. Nuage Therapeutics has come about to provide solutions to a broad range of medical conditions that were considered untreatable until now.”

About Nuage Therapeutics

Founded by the researchers Xavier Salvatella, Mateusz Biesaga and Denes Hnisz, Nuage Therapeutics is a recently created spin-off from the IRB Barcelona and ICREA. Based at the Barcelona Science Park, Nuage Therapeutics develops drug screening assays to target intrinsically disordered proteins that undergo biomolecular condensation, thus providing new treatments for diseases currently considered difficult to treat. Part of the technology developed by Nuage Therapeutics has been funded by the Asociación Española contra el Cáncer (AECC) (Spanish Association Against Cancer), through its “AECC Innova” programme, and by the ”la Caixa” Foundation, through its CaixaResearch Validate programme. www.nuagetx.com

About Asabys Partners

Asabys Partners is a venture capital manager firm specialized in the healthcare sector, founded by Josep Ll. Sanfeliu and Clara Campàs and participated by Alantra. Its first investment vehicle, Sabadell Asabys Health Innovation Investments SCR, SA, was launched in 2019 and is backed by the Banc Sabadell as reference investor. The fund has a size of more than €86M and invests in healthcare companies across three verticals: biotech, medtech and digital therapeutics, that have highly innovative and disruptive technologies. The fund’s investment in the company benefits from the financial backing of the European Union under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (“EFSI”) set up under the Investment Plan for Europe. The purpose of EFSI is to help support financing and implementing productive investments in the European Union and to ensure increased access to financing. www.asabys.com

About the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona)

Created in 2005 by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Government of Catalonia) and University of Barcelona, IRB Barcelona is a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence, a seal that was awarded in 2011. The institute is devoted to conducting research of excellence in biomedicine and to transferring results to clinical practice, thus improving people’s quality of life, while simultaneously promoting the training of outstanding researchers, technology transfer, and science outreach. Its 27 laboratories and eight core facilities address basic questions in biology and are orientated to diseases such as cancer, metastasis, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and rare conditions. IRB Barcelona is an international centre that hosts 400 employees and more than 30 nationalities. It is located in the Barcelona Science Park. IRB Barcelona is a CERCA center, and a member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST). www.irbbarcelona.org/es

About the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA))

ICREA, the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies, is a foundation financed by the Government of Catalonia and guided by a Board of Trustees. ICREA was created in response to the need to seek new hiring formulas that would make it possible to compete with other research systems on a similar footing by focusing on hiring only the most talented and extraordinary scientists and academics. ICREA is an institution without walls. It works hand in hand with universities and research centres in Catalonia to integrate ICREA research professors in the Catalan research system. www.icrea.cat