SOFINNOVA-PARTNERS
13.12.2023 07:01:34 CET | Business Wire | Press release
Sofinnova Partners (“Sofinnova"), a leading European life sciences venture capital firm based in Paris, London, and Milan, announced today the launch of Biovelocita, an investment strategy dedicated entirely to the creation and acceleration of biotech startups in Europe.
Biovelocita’s newly formed team will provide a hands-on, robust framework for startups, combining direct management, financial backing, and access to Sofinnova’s extensive infrastructure and network. The strategy builds upon Sofinnova’s established track record of nurturing innovative ventures within the healthcare and sustainability sectors. It draws inspiration from the achievements of Italy’s first biotech accelerator, BiovelocITA, co-founded by Gabriella Camboni, Silvano Spinelli and Sofinnova Partners in 2015, which has significantly contributed to the growth of the Italian biotech ecosystem.
Graziano Seghezzi, Managing Partner of Sofinnova Partners, said: “With Sofinnova Biovelocita, we are doubling down on our commitment to innovation and company creation in the life sciences. To improve and expand our company-creation toolbox, we have brought together a group of experienced investors and entrepreneurs who have been collaborating with Sofinnova for over a decade, some nearly two decades. With this top-tier team, we look forward to strengthening one of Sofinnova’s strategic pillars: acceleration, which is already making rapid strides in the medical device space with Sofinnova MD Start, our in-house medtech accelerator.”
Key partners of this initiative include:
- Gabriella Camboni, Partner, pivotal in the conception of this strategy as a co-founder and CEO of BiovelocITA. She also co-founded two Sofinnova companies, EOS (Ethical Oncology Science), serving as its COO until its acquisition by Clovis Oncology in 2013, and Novuspharma, which was acquired by Cell Therapeutics, Inc. in 2003.
- Matthieu Coutet, Partner, brings nearly two decades of experience in venture capital and operations, including significant contributions to the launch of biotech startups such as TherAchon and Annapurna Therapeutics, and the founding of AdBio Partners.
- Alex Leech, Partner, an experienced biopharma company builder and a serial CEO, most recently serving as the founding CEO of Alchemab Therapeutics, which raised an $82m Series A investment round.
- Zhizhong (Joel) Yao, Partner, a former Principal in the Sofinnova Capital Strategy, and a Kauffman Fellow, instrumental in the launch of several biotech start-ups. Holds a Harvard PhD in Chemical Biology and Systems Biology and did post-doctoral research at the French National Institute of Agricultural Research.
Seghezzi concluded: “We know from our extensive experience that close cooperation between top management teams, world-class scientists, and dedicated financing, forges the path for biotech champions of tomorrow. With this new strategy, we are poised to catalyze transformative innovation in biotechnology.”
About Sofinnova Partners
Sofinnova Partners is a leading European venture capital firm in life sciences, specializing in healthcare and sustainability. Based in Paris, London and Milan, the firm brings together a team of professionals from all over the world with strong scientific, medical and business expertise. Sofinnova Partners is a hands-on company builder across the entire value chain of life sciences investments, from seed to later-stage. The firm actively partners with ambitious entrepreneurs as a lead or cornerstone investor to develop transformative innovations that have the potential to positively impact our collective future.
Founded in 1972, Sofinnova Partners is a deeply established venture capital firm in Europe, with 50 years of experience backing over 500 companies and creating market leaders around the globe. Today, Sofinnova Partners has over €2.5 billion under management. For more information, please visit: sofinnovapartners.com.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231212907842/en/
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
First Randomized Controlled Trial Shows Promise of a Ketogenic Diet in Psychotic Disorders8.7.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release
Trial reports correlations between ketone levels and cognitive and psychiatric symptoms in individuals with schizophrenia-spectrum and bipolar-1 disorders Published today in Schizophrenia Bulletin, a first-of-its-kind randomized controlled trial (RCT) from researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and funded in part by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), adds to growing literature on the potential benefit of a ketogenic diet for treating psychotic disorders. The study, which enrolled participants with schizophrenia-spectrum or bipolar-1 disorders, demonstrated rapid metabolic improvements with a ketogenic diet compared to diet-as-usual during an initial one-month RCT open-label phase. Furthermore, those who continued with the optional four-month single-arm ketogenic diet extension saw meaningful gains across metabolic, psychiatric, and cognitive measures. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.co
Teamily AI Publicly Launches Human+AI Social Platform to Make Building and Growing a Company Easy for Every Team8.7.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release
Teamily AI (https://Teamily.ai), together with its Agentic AI Infra platform TensorOpera AI (https://TensorOpera.ai), today announced the public launch of its Human+AI social platform, a product stack that has already served more than 5 million users around the world. Starting today in Palo Alto and rolling out simultaneously across dozens of countries, this first public launch opens the full stack to everyone with a single mission: to make building and growing a company easy for every person and every team. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260708584390/en/ "This is the moment we open our doors to the world," said co-founders Dr. Aiden Chaoyang He and Professor Salman Avestimehr. "We want every person and every team to be able to move from idea to product, from product to market, and from market to growth and investment, with an AI-native team by their side." At its core, Teamily AI enables humans and AI agents
Leo Cancer Care Raises $65M Series D to Scale Its Integrated Upright Cancer Care Platform8.7.2026 14:30:00 CEST | Press release
Oversubscribed round follows the world-first compact upright proton treatment at Stanford Medicine — funding a single upright platform that will span imaging and treatment across multiple radiation modalities. Leo Cancer Care, the medical technology company working to reinvent how patients are imaged and treated by designing systems around the body’s natural upright position, today announced the close of an oversubscribed $65 million Series D financing. The round was led by Silicon Valley’s Yu Galaxy and welcomes new investors including Eventide Asset Management, alongside continued support from the company’s existing investors. Leading cancer institutions are already adopting the upright approach. Stanford Medicine delivered the world’s first compact upright proton therapy treatment on 4 June 2026. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and McLaren Health Care are among the institutions bringing the upright platform into their programmes — adoption that spans world-leading academic centers and
LUMI AI Factory Selects IQM to Deploy Advanced Quantum Computer, Accelerating Hybrid HPC and AI Development8.7.2026 14:00:00 CEST | Press release
The Halocene H4 quantum computer, named LUMI-IQ, will be delivered and installed in 2027 The system will be hosted at CSC – IT Center for Science in Finland and integrated into the LUMI AI Factory The system will provide researchers, industry innovators, and developers across Europe with a unique, advanced experimental platform where quantum computing and artificial intelligence converge The LUMI AI Factory, led by CSC – IT Center for Science, has selected IQM Quantum Computers (Nasdaq: IQMX) to deliver IQM Halocene H4, an advanced quantum computer aimed at accelerating hybrid high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing capabilities. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260708006791/en/ LUMI AI Factory selects IQM to deploy advanced quantum computer, accelerating hybrid HPC and AI development IQM Halocene H4 is the first and most advanced on-premises superconducting quantum computer o
Merck Announces FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation for Enpatoran in Lupus Patients With Active Skin Manifestations8.7.2026 14:00:00 CEST | Press release
Enpatoran could address a significant unmet need in lupus, specifically targeting cutaneous manifestations of the disease, which currently have no approved therapiesFDA's decision was supported by Phase 2 WILLOW study results, which demonstrated meaningful symptoms improvement, particularly among patients with active cutaneous manifestationsEnpatoran's potential to go beyond current treatment standards in lupus prompted FDA´s breakthrough designation, which is designed to expedite drug development and reviewNot intended for Canada-, UK- or US-based media Merck, a leading science and technology company, today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to enpatoran for the treatment of lupus with active cutaneous manifestations. Enpatoran is an oral selective toll-like receptor (TLR) 7/8 inhibitor, designed to modulate pathways central to lupus-related inflammation. “For the 85% of lupus patients whose disease includes skin manif
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom