A fifth portfolio company of life sciences venture capital firm Domain Associates has received funding under its investment agreement with Russian state investment corporation Rusnano.
ReVision Optics, a Southern California-based firm developing Raindrop, an inlay for presbyopic vision correction in Phase III trials, has raised USD55m in a financing in which Domain, Rusnano subsidiary RusnanoMedInvest and other investors participated.
A year ago Domain and Rusnano announced a USD760m partnership whereby Rusnano agreed to invest along with Domain and Domain portfolio investor syndicates. In addition, the partnership fosters transfer of technology into Russia and establishes manufacturing facilities in Russia for production of advanced therapeutic products.
"In our first year of working together Domain, Rusnano, and other investors have teamed up to invest in five companies that are developing advanced treatments for ailments as diverse as foot ulcers, epilepsy and near vision loss," says Brian Dovey, partner at Domain. "Put simply, this investment partnership is delivering results – for Domain, our portfolio companies and our partners in Russia."
The agreement has opened a source of late-stage financing for health science companies while creating an attractive commercial opportunity to produce and market pharmaceuticals for the large and fast-growing Russian market. In 2012 four Domain portfolio companies were the recipients of funding rounds under the partnership:
• CoDa Therapeutics is developing new therapeutics for wound care, including the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers and venous leg ulcers.
• Marinus Pharmaceuticals is a specialty pharmaceutical company developing neurosteroids for central nervous system disorders.
• Lithera is a clinical stage company developing pharmaceutical and biomedical products addressing both lifestyle and medical indications in aesthetic medicine and ophthalmology.
• Regado Biosciences is leading the development of a new therapeutic technology based on antithrombotic aptamers with active control agents.
In addition to executing financing transactions, Domain and Rusnano are building out a manufacturing company, NovaMedica, which will produce and market pharmaceuticals in Russia. The company is acquiring intellectual property rights for Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States for all of the treatments funded under the Domain-Rusnano investment agreement. It is also now seeking to license rights to leading edge health sciences technologies outside the Domain portfolio that have application for the Russian market.
Dovey says: "We are also delighted by the progress made by NovaMedica, our joint venture for commercialisation and manufacturing in Russia. We look forward to breaking ground this year and finding additional health sciences products beyond our portfolio companies to develop and market in Russia."
Tatiana Saribekian, chief executive of DRI Holdings, says: "NovaMedica, our manufacturing business, represents a huge opportunity given the scale, current level of under-penetration, and growth trajectory of the Russian advanced pharmaceuticals market. We now have a portfolio of five products and an attractive pipeline, and we are interested in hearing from additional companies."
