Complix extends Series A financing to EUR 7 million with Crédit Agricole Private Equity

For immediate release – January 14, 2011

Complix announces that it has raised an additional EUR 2 million from leading life sciences investor Crédit Agricole Private Equity (Paris, France) as part of an extension of its Series A equity financing round, bringing the total amount of this round to EUR 7 million. Emmanuelle Coutanceau, PhD, from Crédit Agricole Private Equity is joining the Complix Board of Directors.

In June of 2010 the Company already announced the successful completion of a EUR 5 million first closing of the Series A round, with Vesalius Biocapital (Luxembourg) and LRM (Belgium) as co-lead investors.
Complix was founded two years ago and is focused on the discovery and development of Alphabodies™, a novel and proprietary class of protein drugs with exciting therapeutic potential. The present Series A financing will allow Complix to build a preclinical portfolio of Alphabody™ based products for treatment of autoimmune – and viral diseases, and to develop its lead product up to regulatory filing for initiation of clinical trials in the second half of 2012.

Alphabodies™ are small, extremely stable proteins with distinct structural and functional properties, offering significant advantages over existing protein based therapies. Alphabodies™ bind with high affinity to a wide range of disease targets and are particularly suited to address certain target types that are difficult to access with antibodies or other protein scaffolds.

Commenting on this financing, Dr Mark Vaeck, CEO of Complix, stated: “We are delighted with this additional financing from a high-quality life sciences investor like Crédit Agricole Private Equity. Complix is now well positioned to execute its business plan focused on maximizing the clinical and commercial potential of its Alphabody™ platform.”

Emmanuelle Coutanceau, PhD, associate in Crédit Agricole Private Equity’s Venture Capital team commented: “I am truly excited to join the Complix Board of Directors. We at Crédit Agricole Private Equity are attracted by the unique distinguishing characteristics of the Alphabodies™platform which, we believe, will allow Complix to build a valuable portfolio of proprietary therapeutic products with significant breakthrough potential. We are also impressed by the combination of an experienced management team with a sound business plan and a high-quality and committed investors syndicate.”

About Complix

Complix is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of Alphabodies™, a novel class of biopharmaceuticals with distinct structural and functional properties that offer significant advantages over existing protein based therapies. Alphabodies™ bind with high affinity to a wide range of disease targets and are particularly suited to address certain target types that are difficult to access with antibodies or other protein scaffolds. Due to their unique stability and versatility Alphabodies™ have the potential to be formulated for non-injectable routes of administration, such as pulmonary inhalation or oral delivery for intestinal targeting.

Complix´s R&D focus is on the development of novel Alphabody™ based therapies for autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and multiple sclerosis, and for infectious diseases, in particular viral diseases such as influenza, HIV and RSV. Through the filing of several broad patent applications Complix has established a strong intellectual property position on the Alphabody™ platform and various applications. Because the Alphabody™ structure is totally unrelated to immunoglobulins, Alphabodies™ are independent of antibody based patent claims.

Complix was created in 2008 with seed capital from Gemma Frisius Fund, Baekeland Fund, Vinnof and Trustcapital. In June of 2010 Complix raised EUR 5 million through a Series A equity financing round, co-led by Vesalius Biocapital and LRM, and with CRP-Santé from Luxembourg also participating. The Company is headquartered in Hasselt (Belgium) in the Life Sciences incubator BioVille, and has research facilities in Ghent (Belgium) and in Luxembourg. Complix has established a fully owned subsidiary in Luxembourg, which is focused on the discovery of novel anti-viral therapeutics, and has a strategic alliance with the public research institute CRP-Santé. www.complix.com

About Crédit Agricole Private Equity

Crédit Agricole Private Equity is an AMF-accredited asset-management subsidiary of Crédit Agricole, specialising in direct private-equity investment in non-listed companies.

A multi-specialist player, Crédit Agricole Private Equity’s team of 100 professionals manages €3.3 billion with specific expertise in LBO & Expansion, Venture Capital, Mezzanine, Co-Investment, Renewable Energy and PPP Infrastructure.

The 12-strong venture capital team manages €470 million through FCPIs invested in young companies with high growth potential in 2 sectors: information technology and life sciences. Crédit Agricole Private Equity has signed up to the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).

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