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Agomab Therapeutics to Acquire Origo Biopharma

  • The acquisition strengthens Agomab as a leader in targeting growth factor pathways
  • Origo Biopharma is a Spanish biotech founded in Galicia by Julio Castro and GalChimia, and led by Ramon Bosser
  • Asabys Partners and Xesgalicia (Xunta de Galicia Venture Arm) led Origo’s seed round in June 2020 to help the company get to clinical stages and increase its product portfolio
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Ghent, Belgium

Agomab Therapeutics NV (‘Agomab’) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement under which it will acquire Origo Biopharma S.L., a Spanish clinical-stage biotechnology company developing organ-restricted small molecule drug candidates targeting the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) pathway for the treatment of fibrosis-related disorders. The combined organization will focus on translating growth factor signaling pathways into innovative therapies. Agomab’s hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)-targeting monoclonal antibodies together with Origo’s small molecule programs create a rich clinical pipeline of therapeutics that address fibrosis and organ failure in multiple therapeutic areas. 

“Agomab and Origo share a common vision that targeting growth factors has tremendous disease-modifying potential. This transaction delivers on Agomab’s growth strategy and brings together two teams that have complementary R&D experience and establishes an exciting clinical pipeline of therapeutics to help patients with severe unmet medical needs,” said Tim Knotnerus, Chief Executive Officer at Agomab Therapeutics. “TGF-β is a validated pathway known to be a master regulator of fibrogenesis. Leveraging their advanced small molecule expertise, the Origo team has done an amazing job developing organ-restricted TGF-β approaches, which circumvent toxicity concerns associated with systemic TGF-β blockade. I very much look forward to working with the Origo team as an integral part of our combined company going forward.” 

Ramon Bosser, Chief Executive Officer at Origo Biopharma commented: “We view this acquisition as a unique opportunity to accelerate the further development of our programs as part of a highly competent and committed organization. Agomab has built an impressive and driven R&D and corporate team with access to high-quality resources. We are truly excited to take this step and join Agomab to create a growth factor-focused drug development leader with both antibody and small molecule capabilities.”

Origo Biopharma is a Spanish clinical-stage, privately held biotechnology company with research facilities in Touro (Galicia) and corporate offices in Barcelona. The company raised a seed round in June 2020 led by Asabys Partners (Sabadell Asabys) and Xesgalicia (Xunta de Galicia Venture arm), to support the company’s development, increase its product portfolio and get to clinical stages. 

This transaction represents Asabys Partners’ first exit, whose investment vehicle, Sabadell Asabys Health Innovation Investments SCR, SA, was launched in 2019 and has a size of 87 million euros with 12 portfolio companies. The transaction corroborates Asabys’ successful approach of investing in good scientific projects, creating robust teams and developing solid assets to cover unmet medical needs. 

It also represents a success for Galicia’s biotech ecosystem, which has positioned the region as the 2nd most bio-entrepreneurial at a national level, thanks to the expertise and the entrepreneurial activities of the Galician universities and technology centers, as well as the strong impulse from the collaboration between Xunta de Galicia and the business landscape.