LSP, the specialist European healthcare investor, is proud to announce today the successful sale of its portfolio company Syntaxin (UK) to Ipsen (F). A PDF version of Syntaxin’s press release can be found here. Under the terms of the agreement, Ipsen will pay €28 million upfront, as well as further contingent payments that could exceed €130 million depending on the achievement of development and commercial milestones. Furthermore, Syntaxin’s shareholders will receive the greater part of additional downstream payments related to the company’s most advanced asset, currently in Phase II clinical trials.

Syntaxin has a strong R&D portfolio which exploits the diversity of botulinum toxins, including recombinant botulinum toxins with improved designs and properties. The Company’s technology has been validated by the Phase II clinical trials of Syntaxin’s lead candidate. René Kuijten, general partner at LSP, has supported the company as a Supervisory Board member since 2007.

The sale of Syntaxin further enriches LSP’s track record, which was already validated by several recent trade sales such as Kreatech to Leica, Okairos to GSK, Movetis to Shire, U3 Pharma to Daiichi Sankyo, Pasteuria to Syngenta, Flowcardia to Bard, BMEYE to Edwards, Kudos to AstraZeneca, Jerini to Shire and DNage to Pharming, as well as the IPO’s of Prosensa and Zealand Pharma. In the majority of these cases, LSP was lead and founding investor. These exits have allowed the growth of LSP as a firm.

Since inception, LSP has launched a number funds, raising in excess of USD 1 billion of investment capital to date. Most recently, LSP launched its Health Economics Fund, which targets investments in cost-efficient medical technology companies. Other successful investment strategies include LSP’s public healthcare fund that has generated triple figure returns over a five year period. As a consequence, LSP has grown to become one of the most successful global healthcare investors. « back to overview