- Partnership will allow SparingVision to develop novel genomic medicines for the treatment of ocular diseases utilizing Intellia’s proprietary CRISPR/Cas9 technology
- Jeito Capital selected SparingVision as its first French investment in October 2020, participating in a €44.5 million financing round
Paris, France, 13 October 2021 – Jeito Capital (“Jeito”), a leading independent private equity firm dedicated to biotech and biopharma, congratulates its portfolio company, SparingVision, a genomic medicines company developing vision saving treatments, which has today announced a strategic collaboration with Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTLA), a leading clinical-stage genome editing company focused on developing curative therapeutics using CRISPR/Cas9 technology both in vivo and ex vivo, to develop novel genomic medicines utilizing CRISPR/Cas9 technology for the treatment of ocular diseases.
After GAMUT Therapeutics’ acquisition announced in April 2021, SparingVision is successfully continuing to execute its build-up strategy to become a Leader in genomics in Ophthalmology. This ambitious strategy is at the heart of Jeito’s commitment to SparingVision.
The collaboration between SparingVision and Intellia will see the exclusive rights to Intellia’s proprietary in vivo CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing technology granted to SparingVision for up to three ocular targets addressing diseases with significant unmet medical need. Additionally, the preclinical and clinical development for the genome-editing product candidates pursued under the collaboration will be led and funded by SparingVision. Finally, both parties will collaboratively research and develop novel self-inactivating AAV vectors and LNP-based approaches to address delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing reagents to the retina.
As part of Jeito’s diverse portfolio of biotech and biopharma companies primarily based in Europe with global reach, SparingVision represented the fund’s first French investment, focused on the development of its flagship treatments, SPVN06 and SPVN20, for mutation-agnostic retinitis pigmentosa, one of the leading causes of blindness and beyond those first assets with the ambition to build up a meaningful portfolio of products to become a leader in genomics in Ophthalmology.
Jeito recently announced the final closing of its first fund, Jeito I, at €534 million ($630 million), exceeding its original target of €500 million in September 2021, making it the largest European fund dedicated to supporting companies in the life sciences sector in their ambitious journey.
Sabine Dandiguian, SparingVision Board member and Managing Partner at Jeito, said: “We continue to be impressed by the progress that SparingVision is making in the development of breakthrough therapies for ocular diseases following our investment into the Company in the autumn of 2020. This collaboration with Intellia reflects the company’s commitment to developing novel genomic medicines for patients with ocular diseases currently without approved therapies and is very illustrative of Jeito strategy in supporting the Company to unleash its ambition based on its scientific excellence and outstanding leadership team.
Stephane Boissel, SparingVision’s President and Chief Executive Officer said: “SparingVision’s aim has always been to disrupt the ophthalmology field by using cutting-edge technologies to address areas of significant unmet need. This collaboration with Intellia marks a pivotal moment in this mission and is highly complementary to our already mature and growing pipeline of unique mutation-agnostic gene therapies. Intellia is the first company in history to present clinical data supporting precision editing of a disease-causing gene within the body following a single, systemic dose of CRISPR/Cas9 and we are honored to have been selected as a strategic partner. We are grateful for the guidance and unwavering support of Jeito for the past year and as we further progress in our shared goal of radically changing the treatment of blinding ocular diseases.”
The full press release issued by SparingVision can be found here.
ENDS
About Jeito Capital
Jeito Capital is a global leading investment company with a patient benefit driven approach that finances and accelerates the development and growth of ground-breaking medical innovation. Jeito empowers and supports entrepreneurs through its expert, integrated, multi-talented team and through the investment of significant capital to ensure the growth of companies, building market leaders in their respective therapeutic areas with accelerated patients’ access in Europe & the United States. Jeito Capital has €534 million under management. Jeito Capital is based in Paris with a presence in Europe and the United States. For more information, please visit www.jeito.life, or follow on Twitter @Jeito_life or LinkedIn.
About SparingVision
SparingVision is a genomic medicines company, translating pioneering science into vision-saving treatments. Founded to advance over 20 years of world-leading ophthalmic research from its scientific founders at the Paris Vision Institute, SparingVision is leading a step shift in how ocular diseases are treated, moving beyond single gene correction therapies. At the heart of this is a pipeline of gene independent treatments for rod-cone dystrophies. Lead products, SPVN06 and SPVN20, address mid and late stages of retinitis pigmentosa (RP)respectively. RP is the most common inherited retinal disease affecting two million people worldwide. These novel medicines could form the basis of a suite of new sight-saving treatments with potential applications across many other retinal diseases, regardless of genetic cause.
The Company is supported by a strong, internationally renowned team who aim to harness the potential of genomic medicine to deliver new treatments to all ocular disease patients as quickly as possible. SparingVision has raised €60 million to date and its investors include 4BIO Capital, Advent France Biotechnology, Bpifrance, Foundation Fighting Blindness (US), Fondation Voir & Entendre, UPMC Enterprises, Jeito Capital and Ysios Capital. For more information, please visit www.sparingvision.com.