Neva Sgr, the company of Intesa Sanpaolo Group specializing in venture capital, announced its investment in Tr1X, US biotech company that studies and develops treatments for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases through the engineering of T cells. Neva Sgr, 100% controlled by Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center, has finalized the investment in Tr1X through its Neva First fund. The announcement was made on the occasion of the 'Venture Capital: protagonists, growth and projects of Neva Sgr' event which took place yesterday at the Officine Grandi Riparazioni in Turin, introduced by Gian Maria Gros-Pietro, president of Intesa Sanpaolo. In the same context, Neva has also announced the launch of a new investment fund which will see the light in 2024 with an estimated collection of 500 million.
Tr1X will be able to start the approval process for new drugs
Thanks to the resources coming from the collection round in which Neva Sgr and other international venture capitalists participated, Tr1X will start the approval process of new drugs at the US Food & Drug Administration, with the aim of being able to administer the first clinical trial dose in 2023.
Tr1X builds on over twenty years of successful research into regulatory cells and their role in the immune system by the founder, Maria Grazia Roncarolo, one of the world's leading experts in cell and gene therapy.
“Neva Sgr shares our vision and great ambition to create a new frontier of medicine using cutting-edge genetic engineering technologies to cure previously incurable diseases – said Roncarolo -. The goal is to develop a single treatment capable of eradicating autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, restoring the physiological balance of the patients' immune system.
Tr1X is the latest company to be accepted into the Neva Sgr family which now has 26 companies for a total allocated of approximately 150 million euro.
"Tr1X is an example of how Italian researchers, thanks to their preparation, can help revolutionize the pharmaceutical industry and change the future of our lives for the better" said Mario Costantini, CEO and General Manager of Neva Sgr who participated together with international investors to the future of Tr1x.
In view of the launch of a new fund with an estimated collection of 500 million
With the first fund Neva First, created in 2020, 250 million euros were raised to invest in highly innovative companies distributed throughout the world. In the same year the fund was added Neva Italy, dedicated exclusively to Italian and European start-ups active in research, development and production in our country.
“The market response has been positive, subscriptions have flowed positively. And the results we are reaping from the investments already made are also positive, which encourage us and make us think that this is only a beginning” said Gros-Pietro in his opening speech.
Given the participation of the large number of investors, Neva plans to launch in 2024 a new fund which is expected to have a double collection compared to Neva First, therefore around 500 million, “who will be able to benefit from our growing international relations with funds, institutional investors and the world of research” said Luca Remmert, Chairman of Neva Sgr.
Of another type is then the Fund SIX, which provides for an initial endowment of 15 million euros fully subscribed by Intesa Sanpaolo (therefore without the intervention of other investors) and which intends to support the growth of the Italian innovation ecosystem: it therefore acts with targeted investments in vehicles for the implementation of research, selection, acceleration and professionalisation programs for promising start-ups.
“Our first goal is to guarantee high yields to subscribers through a dynamic allocation of capital – continues Costantini who sees investment opportunities in excellent companies -. We only reward entrepreneurs capable of managing the growing complexity and at the same time maintaining prudence and pragmatism".
