DSM Venturing has invested in Speedel, a Swiss-based, privately owned drug development company, based on a new pharmaceutical business concept for rapid, cost-efficient development of innovative drugs, particularly in the cardiovascular and metabolic disease area.
The investment in Speedel is consistent with DSM’s strategy to invest in innovative companies that provide DSM with windows on new technological and business developments in the areas of Life Sciences and Performance Materials. Paul Hamm, Director of DSM Venturing and Business Development said: “We are very interested to explore the dynamics of Speedel’s innovative pharmaceutical business concept and we are convinced that DSM’s and Speedel’s combined complementary competences will result in value creation for both Speedel and DSM.”
DSM Venturing participated in a mezzanine financing round of € 35 million. Alice Huxley, President and CEO of Speedel, stated “We are very happy that we were able to close this financing round in line with our target in this difficult capital market for private equity transactions. Our investors, including DSM Venturing, Novartis Venture Fund and several private investors, will work with us as partners to develop Speedel into a premier Swiss Pharma company.”
DSM Venturing
DSM Venturing is part of DSM’s Venturing and Business Development business group and was formed in the first half of 2001. DSM Venturing is focused on direct investments in early stage companies in DSM’s strategic growth fields: Food Ingredients, Pharmaceutical Intermediates and Performance Materials. Furthermore, it is participating in several venture capital funds active in these fields. The investment in Speedel is DSM Venturing’s first direct investment in the life science pharma field. For more information about DSM Venturing, see www.dsm-venturing.com.
Speedel
The Speedel Group, based in Basel, Switzerland, develops innovative cardiovascular and metabolic drugs. It is a privately owned pharmaceutical company, formed in 1998, that works with a team of 40 experienced pharmaceutical scientists and managers. To date, Speedel has secured a total of about € 100 million in equity, development and license revenues and convertible loans. Speedel in-licenses promising drug candidates at the end of the discovery phase from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. In addition, it generates through Speedel Experimenta AG its own Intellectual Property and development candidates. Speedel’s expertise lies in the technical problem solving and the capacity to swiftly demonstrate the safety and efficacy of drugs in humans. Upon completion of the Phase II development segment, Speedel will partner with one of the leading pharmaceutical companies for the Phase III development and the commercialization of the drug. For additional information see www.speedelgroup.com.
DSM
DSM is active worldwide in life science products, performance materials and industrial chemicals. The group has annual sales of close to EUR 5.6 billion and employs about 18,500 people at more than 200 sites across the world. DSM ranks among the global leaders in many of its fields. The company’s strategic aim is to grow its sales – partly through acquisitions – to a level of approx. EUR 10 billion by 2005. By that time specialties, i.e. advanced chemical and biotechnological products for the life science industry and performance materials should generate at least 80% of sales. This strategy represents a continuation of the company’s ongoing transformation and concentration on global leadership positions in high-added-value activities characterized by high growth and more stable profit levels. More information about DSM can be found at www.dsm.com.
