The Munich company was able to collect more than 200 million euros from investors.
(Photo: ITM)
Frankfurt In one of the largest private investment rounds in the biotech industry, ITM SE collects 255 million euros. This was announced by the biotech company from Garching near Munich on Monday. Under the management of Temasek Holdings from Singapore, the Biontech investors Thomas and Andreas Strüngmann are also investing in the company for the first time via their investment company Athos.
The financing round is good news not only for ITM, but for the entire German biotech industry. Because the search for fresh capital is still difficult for the industry after the boom in the corona pandemic.
The company name ITM stands for Isotope Technologies Munich. Founded in 2004, the company develops and produces precise cancer therapies in which radioactive isotopes are combined with so-called tumour-specific target molecules, as well as suitable diagnostics.
Targeted radionuclide therapy is a new form of cancer treatment. The isotopes recognize specific tumor cells precisely and bind to cell structures of the tumor, causing them to disintegrate. Treatment aims to irradiate the tumor directly while minimizing radiation exposure to normal tissue.
ITM currently has various product candidates in its portfolio, which are also being researched against diseases that are difficult to treat, such as brain tumors, lung or ovarian cancer and so-called neuroendocrine tumors, which arise from hormone-producing cells.
Speculations about a possible ITM listing on the Nasdaq
On the one hand, ITM wants to invest the money from the investment round in the further development of this portfolio. Leading the way in oncology is a product candidate called ITM 11, which is currently being evaluated in two late-stage clinical trials in gastrointestinal malignancies.
Furthermore, the funds are to flow into the expansion of production. ITM has been producing radioisotopes for pharmaceutical companies from all over the world since the company was founded and is about to complete a second production facility, which is scheduled to officially open later this month.
According to the company, it is the world’s largest production site for the radioactive element Lutetium-177, which is used in cancer therapy. Around 200 employees will be employed there. In total, ITM has around 500 employees.
At the beginning of last year, the company made headlines about a possible listing on the US technology exchange Nasdaq. According to research by the Handelsblatt, the biotech company could have been valued at up to 1.5 billion dollars at the time. When asked by the Handelsblatt, ITM did not want to comment on possible stock market plans or the company valuation.
However, the company plans to open a US headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey. In addition to Temasek and Athos, investors in the current round at ITM include Blackrock Alternatives, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Nextech and Carbyne. The round consisted primarily of primary equity plus a minority transaction of secondary equity.
ITM had already completed a number of larger financing rounds in recent years. In 2021, for example, around 115 million euros were collected in two rounds. One of the first investors who got involved shortly after the company was founded is the entrepreneur Udo Johannes Vetter from the Ravensburg-based pharmaceutical supplier of the same name. Vetter is the chairman of the supervisory board of ITM.
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