Date: 2014-07-01
Type of information: Loan
Company: Uniqure (The Netherlands)
Investors: Hercules Technology Growth Capital (USA)
Amount: $ 20 million (€ 14.6 million)
Funding type: loan
Planned used: The funds will be used to finance the build-out of its US plant, and for general working capital purposes.
Others:
* On July 30, 2013, uniQure has raised $ 10 million (€ 7.5 million) in venture debt from Hercules Technology Growth Capital, to finance the build-out of its US plant, and for general working capital purposes. The company has just announced that it has commenced build-out of a state-of-the-art 55,000 square foot US manufacturing plant in Lexington, Massachusetts for the production of commercial grade Adeno Associated Virus (AAV)-based gene therapy products to complement its current EMA-approved site in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Uniqure expects the facility to be operational by early 2015. The US site will significantly expand the Company’s current production capacity. Once completed, it is expected to allow uniQure to capitalize on its modular manufacturing platform and leverage its process leadership in commercial grade AAV manufacturing. With two validated manufacturing sites on stream, Uniqure will be able to ensure it can supply commercial grade material for its pipeline of products as they advance into pivotal studies and will be positioned as the partner of choice for the manufacturing, development and commercialization of AAV-based gene therapies. In connection with its US expansion, Uniqure has appointed Lance Weed as VP US Operations. He was previously Executive Director, Site Operations at Amgen, and prior to that VP of Operations at BioVex Inc.
Therapeutic area: Rare diseases - Genetic diseases