Summa Equity, the purpose-driven private equity firm that invests to solve global challenges, has acquired a majority stake in Sengenics, a functional proteomics company with a proprietary technology called KREX that enables researchers to vastly improve the understanding of the human proteome and immune system. Proteomics, i.e. the large-scale study of proteins, is one of the most important areas for gaining insights into human biology and disease, as protein expressions, structures and functions are critical in reflecting states of health.
Sengenics was first founded in 2008 and went on to commercialise the KREX technology that was originally developed from a joint collaboration between the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford. The company’s patented KREX technology enables researchers to address both the function and folding structure of proteins using one technology that allows for large numbers of proteins to be studied simultaneously, with high sensitivity and specificity. The combination of these capabilities makes KREX unique. The technology is relevant for a broad range of applications in research and throughout the value chain for drugs, vaccines and diagnostics. Sengenics is currently mainly focused on autoantibody detection for applications in autoimmune diseases, oncology and infectious diseases, including COVID-19. The company recently launched a unique high-throughput, multi-antigen, multi-domain and fully quantitative COVID-19 test, leveraging the KREX technology.
Sengenics has grown rapidly in recent years and established customer relationships with top global pharmaceutical companies, and leading research and academic institutions around the world. The company currently has commercial partnerships with 9 out of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies to co-develop complementary and companion diagnostic tests for autoimmune and cancer immunotherapy drugs. Sengenics is based in Europe and South-East Asia.
“Sengenics’ proprietary technology unlocks tremendous potential for researchers around the world to further their understanding of biology and disease,” says Tommi Unkuri, Partner at Summa Equity. “We are proud to partner with the company and support its journey, as it looks to expand its position in the market and grow its business. We look forward to supporting the Sengenics team in our shared ambition to invest to drive product development, global expansion and accelerated adoption.”
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Summa Equity invests in companies that address global challenges, while managing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, with the aim of increasing returns and reducing risk. It was the first company to align its investments with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The investment in Sengenics is aligned with the firm’s Changing Demographics theme and supports the SDG Target #3: “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”, by enabling improved diagnosis, treatment and patient outcomes across a number of disease areas.
“We are excited to welcome Summa Equity as a major strategic investor and shareholder in Sengenics. Their extensive capabilities and alignment with our vision of changing the future of medicine through immune-proteomics is a very strong strategic fit. Summa also has a great deal of relevant knowledge and experience to be a value-added owner for us given its ownership of Olink Proteomics. This deal ensures a level of investment in our technology portfolio that will further advance Sengenics’ development and commercialisation initiatives,” said Dr Arif Anwar, CEO of Sengenics.
Summa Equity will be the majority shareholder in Sengenics, while key people in the management team will remain as shareholders in the company.
Source: Biospace
