The Kvarko Fund invested PLN 1 million in the pharmaceutical company Auxilius Pharma Oncology. The funds will be used to create an oncological complex generic drug, the first replacement in its therapeutic segment, Kvarko said.
Auxilius Pharma Oncology is the 20th and Kvarko’s final investment under the current fund, co-financed by BRIdgeAlfa funds, it said.
“The generic that Auxilius is working on, despite significant formulation challenges, does not require clinical trials on humans, so the process of its creation is less capital-intensive. Hence, we decided to invest in this project, the more so as the company has very experienced scientists and leaders on board, ”said Ewelina Stelmach, investment manager at Kvarko.
Auxilius Pharma Oncology is developing a generic oncological drug from the category of the so-called complex generic, i.e. a specific formulation with a formulation that is very difficult to recreate. In the case of many drugs with the expiry date of patents, their substitutes, the so-called generics. However, the scale of complexity of the oncological drug targeted by Auxilius means that despite the fact that the patent for the original expired 5 years ago, the generic still does not exist, it is noted.
The funds obtained from Kvarko will be used by the company for research and development works in the oncology project. According to the assumptions, ultimately bringing the drug to commercialization will mean an investment of around EUR 3 million. Hence, Auxilius is already getting ready for the next, larger round of financing, and in the longer term it may debut on the stock exchange.