Deinove Gains Access to Biovertis/Morphochem’s Lead Compound MCB3837 for the Potential Treatment of Clostridium Difficile Infections (CDI)

Vienna/Munich, 13 April 2018: Biovertis AG, Vienna and TVM Capital Life Science, Munich today announced the signing of a definitive agreement for the acquisition of all of the shares and interest in Biovertis by Deinove S.A., Montpelier (Euronext Growth Paris: ALDEI) a biotech company that discovers, develops and produces high-value compounds from rare bacteria.

Through the transaction, Deinove will gain control of Biovertis’ wholly owned subsidiary Morphochem AG für kombinatorische Chemie, Munich and its MCB3837 program, a first-in-class antibiotic effective on Gram-positive bacteria and more particularly on Clostridium difficile. CDI is one of the leading causes of healthcare-associated infections and the treatment of CDI represents a real therapeutic challenge. Hence the Morphochem program was granted Qualified Infectious Disease Product Designation (QIPD) as well as Fast Track status from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). MCB3837 has shown promise for the treatment of infectious diseases, in particular CDI, in pre-clinical tests and several phase I clinical trials and is ready to enter phase II clinical development.

Carsten Dehning, CEO of Biovertis said: “Over the past years, we have been able to confirm and strengthen the unique profile of MCB3837. Pre-clinical and clinical data demonstrate that MCB3837 has the potential to become the first choice in treatment of severe CDI”.

“MCB3837 has the potential to address the major health challenge of Clostridium difficile infections, a rapidly growing epidemic. We are pleased to entrust Deinove, which has set the search for new antibiotics as its top priority, with its continued development. We will support Deinove in the next stages of development and, in this respect, we are already committed to making a substantial contribution to its future financing needs,” added Dr. Hubert Birner, Managing Partner, TVM Capital Life Science.

Emmanuel Petiot, CEO of Deinove, said: “With this transaction, we are significantly strengthening our portfolio of antibiotics in development and our health activities. With the entry into our capital of TVM, a European investment fund specialized in health innovation, along with its commitment to participate in our financing needs, we find ourselves with a new high-quality shareholder that supports our development strategy.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Deinove will issue 500 thousand new shares together with 8 million warrants for new shares of Deinove in return for all shares and rights in Biovertis. The 8 million warrants, entitling to a maximum of 8 million new Deinove shares, will only be exercisable by their holders in the event of reaching various milestones in the development of the drug candidate. Alongside with the acquisition, TVM Capital Life Science, through its TVM V Life Science Venture fund, which is the majority shareholder in Biovertis, has committed to substantially contribute to the future financing needs of Deinove in order to also support the next clinical development steps.

The transaction remains subject to the approval by the shareholders of Deinove as well as other customary closing conditions.

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About TVM Capital Life Science

TVM Capital Life Science is a group of independent investment advisories and fund managers for Venture Capital funds, investing into innovative biotech, pharmaceutical, and medtech companies with teams based in Munich and Montreal. Since 1984, TVM Capital Life Science has invested in more than 130 life science companies in Europe, Canada and the United States, currently managing in excess of €900 million from more than 50 investors.

About Biovertis / Morphochem

Biovertis, through its wholly owned subsidiary Morphochem, is developing a novel, proprietary and unique antibacterial treatment for Clostridium difficile infections. The compound MCB3837 has shown safety and tolerability in three phase I studies including Proof-of Principle in a multiple-dose Phase Ib study performed at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. The program has obtained QIPD designation and Fast Track status from the FDA.

About Deinove

DEINOVE (Euronext Growth Paris: ALDEI) is a biotech company that discovers, develops and produces high added-value compounds from rare microorganisms for use in the fields of health, nutrition and cosmetic markets. To do so, DEINOVE draws on two key assets:

• a unique library of 6,000 rare or unexploited bacterial strains;
• a metabolic and fermentation engineering platform capable of leveraging these natural “micro-factories” to turn them into new industrial standards.

Based in Montpellier, DEINOVE employs approximately 55 employees and has nearly 130 international patents. The Company has been listed on Euronext Growth since April 2010.