NEWS & INSIGHTS

Lugano, Switzerland, 16 June 2017: Helsinn Investment Fund S.A., a fund focused on early-stage investments in areas of high unmet patient need, today announces that it has made a Euro 2M investment in GreenBone, a privately-held developer of bone regeneration technology. GreenBone, which is based in Faenza, Italy, provides innovative, easy to use bio-inspired solutions designed to help cure severe bone diseases. This is one of a series of early-stage investments made by Helsinn Investment Fund, which is incorporated in Luxembourg and is fully owned by Helsinn Group.

The investment by Helsinn Investment Fund, part of a wider fundraising, will be mainly used to complete by 2019 clinical development conducted in load-bearing long bones defects, receive CE Mark and other general corporate purposes. In addition, GreenBone intends to conduct the preclinical development for further applications in other skeleton diseases. GreenBone has already completed successfully a pre-clinical study at the Assaf Harofeh Hospital (Israel) in cooperation with the Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute in Bologna.

GreenBone Ortho, srl (Faenza, Italy) has developed a patented, innovative, wood-derived, bone regenerative implant for extensive bone damage in non-loaded and load-bearing skeletal segments such as long bone non-union fractures, spinal damage, trauma and cancer-induced bone loss. Due to its structure and chemical composition, GreenBone has the ideal biomimetic, resorbable and regenerative properties for bone grafting.

GreenBone is expected to provide patients new functional bone, increasing their quality of life dramatically, while reducing healthcare and social costs that are typically high for such patients. The idea was conceived and developed by a research group at ISTEC-CNR in Faenza (Institute of Science and Technology for Ceramics – National Research Council) led by Dr. Anna Tampieri. A first patent has already been granted in USA, EU, China and other countries, with an international PCT patent application pending. The patent portfolio has been subject of a worldwide exclusive license agreement between GreenBone Ortho, srl and CNR.

The company is led by a world-class team that has advanced multiple products including orthopaedic ones from bench-to-market. GreenBone closed a €3 million seed round of investment in 2015 from ZernikeMeta Ventures, Italian Angels for Growth (IAG) and some private Italian and foreign investors.

Helsinn Investment Fund was set up to draw on over 40 years’ expertise in research and development and commercialisation of therapeutic candidates in cancer care, pain and inflammation and gastroenterology. The Fund aims to help companies working across a range of areas in healthcare to develop early-stage technologies into commercial solutions that will impact health-related quality of life of patients.

Riccardo Braglia, Helsinn Group Vice Chairman and CEO, commented: “GreenBone is a great example of a dynamic, technology-driven innovation which we at Helsinn Investment Fund believe can revolutionise the treatment of bone conditions brought about by impacts such as trauma and tumours. Since its creation in 2014, GreenBone has come a long way very quickly and we look forward to working with the management to further advance this life-changing technology through to commercialisation.”

Lorenzo Pradella, Co-founder and CEO of GreenBone, said: “Securing an investment partner like Helsinn Investment Fund is of great value to GreenBone. Helsinn Investment Fund brings financial resources, but also experience and commercial know-how to help to bring a product to market in a timely and cost-effective manner. We look forward to working with them and to progressing our product through clinical trials and ultimately bringing it to patients.”

About Helsinn Investment Fund

The Helsinn Investment Fund is focused on early-stage investments in areas of high unmet patient need. Backed by the Helsinn Group, and guided by Helsinn’s core values of quality, integrity and respect, Helsinn Investment Fund aims to help companies with innovative technologies to transform new ideas into commercial solutions with the potential to impact health-related quality of life of patients.

Drawing on Helsinn’s over 40 years of investment into research and development and commercial expertise, the investment fund selects companies with technologies in a range of areas including cancer therapeutics and diagnostics, cancer supportive care, metabolic and gastrointestinal disorders, and dermatology conditions.

For more information, visit www.helsinninvestmentfund.com

About the Helsinn Group

Helsinn is a privately owned pharmaceutical group with an extensive portfolio of marketed cancer care products and a robust drug development pipeline. Since 1976, Helsinn has been improving the everyday lives of patients, guided by core family values of respect, integrity and quality. The Group works across pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices and nutritional supplements and has expertise in research, development, manufacture and the commercialisation of therapeutic and supportive care products for cancer, pain and inflammation and gastroenterology. In 2016, Helsinn created the Helsinn Investment Fund to support early-stage investment opportunities in areas of unmet patient need. The company is headquartered in Lugano, Switzerland, with operating subsidiaries in Switzerland, Ireland and the U.S., a representative office in China as well as a product presence in approximately 190 countries globally.

For further information please visit: www.helsinn.com

About GreenBone Ortho, srl

GreenBone is a start-up based in Faenza (Italy) founded in 2014. The company wants to become a worldwide leader for bone regeneration by providing innovative and easy to use bio-inspired solutions that will help cure severe diseases. In particular, it develops a revolutionary technology in the orthopedic-traumatological field for the production of bone implants derived from natural structures such as wood, with outstanding regenerative properties. GreenBone scaffolds are particularly suited to address the large bone loss caused by trauma, tumours and other nasty skeleton damages having high incidence and often leading to significant disablements. GreenBone presented at TEDxBinnenhof 2016, being selected among the 10 very best ‘Ideas from Europe’ (March 31, The Hague NL). For more information, please visit www.greenbone.it

For further information:

Helsinn Group Media Contact:
Paola Bonvicini
Group Head of Communication
+41 (0)91 985 21 21
info-hhc@helsinn.com
Please visit www.helsinn.com
We are on Twitter. Follow us @HelsinnGroup

GreenBone:
Lorenzo Pradella
Co-founder and CEO GreenBone
lorenzo.pradella@greenbone.it
+39 0546 46666