2023 was confirmed as the year with the fewest births in Spain, at least since 1941, when data began to be recorded. In 2024, the figures improved slightly, with about a thousand more births than the previous year, but they are still far from those of a decade ago, with 24% fewer births compared to ten years ago. A demographic change that responds to several factors, such as the delay in the age for having children, difficulties in accessing housing or economic conditions, but also to the increase in infertility in couples. To address this problem, the Swiss biotechnology company ReproNovo, which has just opened a subsidiary in Barcelona, has raised 65 million dollars (about 57.8 million euros) to develop two innovative drugs.
"Infertility has become a serious health problem and a risk for society not only in Spain but throughout the world. Furthermore, it is also an area where there is still an urgent need for innovation because there are certain medical problems for which treatments have not yet been developed," defends Joan Carles Arce, Chief Scientific & Medical Officer of ReproNovo. For this reason, the 65 million dollars from this funding round will serve to advance the clinical trials of two pioneering drugs that the company is currently developing to treat, on the one hand, male infertility and, on the other, adenomyosis. Two medical problems for which there are still no drugs available on the market.
On the one hand, the oral medication RPN-001 is an innovative therapy to treat low testosterone levels in men. The molecule leflutrozole inhibits the aromatase enzyme to block the conversion of testosterone to estradiol and thus normalize testosterone levels and increase sperm count. An innovative drug, as the company defends, since the available treatments for male infertility are still very scarce.
"There are certain stigmas on the part of men when it comes to recognizing a fertility problem, but they are increasingly open to talking and finding a solution, especially if the solution is as easy as an oral medication," defends Jean Marie Duvall, co-founder and CEO of ReproNovo. The company has already closed an exclusive global license agreement with Mereo BioPharma for the development and commercialization of this medication.
On the other hand, the second drug (RPN-002), which also consists of an orally administered medication, uses the nolasiban molecule to treat adenomyosis, a gynecological disease that affects the uterus causing pain, heavy bleeding, and is also associated with reduced fertility. Like endometriosis, it is a common pathology present in approximately one in four women who attend gynecological evaluation, but for which there are still no approved treatments. The molecule also serves to reduce abnormal uterine contractions, so it can also be applied to assisted reproduction processes, during which reducing abnormal contractions can lead to an increase in pregnancy rates.
For the biotechnology investment fund Ysios Capital, this operation represents the sixteenth and final investment of its Ysios BioFund III fund.Both drugs are currently in the second phase of clinical studies, meaning they are undergoing trials to determine their efficacy and safety. These trials, which the biotechnology company expects to last about two years, will then be followed by definitive clinical studies. Therefore, the commercialization of these products could not begin for about five or six years, once all corresponding clinical trials have been successfully completed. The company establishes Europe and the United States as its main market, as well as some Asian countries, such as China or Japan, before making the international leap.
The 65 million dollars raised will be allocated to these clinical trials, as well as to the manufacturing of the drugs. The round has been led by the French fund Jeito Capital, with the participation of AXA IM Alts, M Ventures, ALSA Ventures, and Ysios Capital. For the biotechnology investment fund Ysios Capital, with offices in San Sebastián and Barcelona, this operation represents the sixteenth and final investment of its fund Ysios BioFund III. In addition, it also represents the first investment in reproductive medicine for the manager, which since its founding in 2008 has invested in 42 companies in the biotechnology sector.
"With this investment, we want to start financing infertility treatments but, in addition, also cover a need, since these drugs solve medical problems that, until now, had not been treated by the pharmaceutical industry," emphasizes Guillem Laporta, partner at Ysios Capital. Throughout its trajectory, the manager has invested more than 400 million euros in research projects through three funds. In addition, 19 of the drugs in which it has invested have been brought to market.
Ysios Capital is now preparing to launch a new fund, InceptionBio, which aims to support projects, in initial phases, born in research centers in Spain. "Since we were founded, we were clear that we wanted to invest in Spanish companies, to support and promote local research and talent. But now we want to go a step further and create a specific fund to support companies from the beginning, in their earliest stages," argues Laporta.
Ysios Capital has invested, for example, in Spanish companies such as STAT-Dx, TiGenix, or Sanifit, all of which are companies that have grown and been acquired by large pharmaceutical companies. On the other hand, the firm also currently acts as an advisor to the fund managed by AndBank Telescope, which invests in listed biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies mainly in the United States.
A commitment to the Spanish scientific ecosystem that ReproNovo also addresses. The company, founded in 2021 and headquartered in Lausanne (Switzerland) and Copenhagen (Denmark), has just opened a subsidiary in Barcelona. A step they consider strategic for the company's development because they argue that the Catalan capital is one of the most advanced in scientific research in the field of reproductive medicine.
"Barcelona is not only a pioneer in scientific publications in this field, but it also has a large number of assisted reproduction clinics," says Duvall. The city also concentrates reference hospitals in this field such as Vall d'Hebron, Hospital Clínic, and Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau. Apart from settling in the city, ReproNovo, which currently has 14 employees, also plans to incorporate Catalan scientists to increase its team and be able to accompany the different clinical trials that its two innovative therapies for treating infertility, which are currently under development, must face.
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