Novo Holdings Creates New Rare Bleeding Disorder Company, Hemab

• Funded through Novo Seeds’ company creation and building efforts
• Focus on rare underserved bleeding disorders with large unmet need
• Brings together a strong industrial R&D team with deep expertise in hemophilia and clinically validated technologies from Novo Nordisk and Genmab A/S

Copenhagen, Denmark, 14 December 2020 – Novo Seeds, the early stage investment and company creation team of Novo Holdings, announced today that it has invested in a new portfolio company Hemab ApS (Hemab), which is focused on the development of bispecific antibodies for the treatment of rare bleeding disorders.

Hemab was co-founded by Johan Faber and Søren Bjørn, who until 2018, held leadership positions within hemophilia drug research and development at Novo Nordisk A/S. Hemab has secured an exclusive license to certain intellectual property to develop a product within hemophilia and other rare bleeding disorders from Novo Nordisk A/S and an exclusive license to Genmab A/S’s proven bispecific DuoBody® platform technology, which enables the company to further develop novel therapies for ultra-rare bleeding disorders. Novo Seeds has worked closely with the founders to develop a commercially attractive business plan to maximise the potential of Hemab’s promising technology platform.

Johan Faber, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Hemab, said: “We are very pleased to have Novo Seeds on board as investor and partner to accelerate the development of our exciting new technology platform. We are passionate about developing novel therapies for people with severe bleeding disorders that are in high need for a prophylactic treatment option that is effective, safe and convenient. With the hands-on support of Novo Seeds we have a strong foundation to realize our ambitions for patients with rare bleeding disorders."

Jørgen Søberg Petersen, Novo Seeds Partner, will join Henmab as Chairman and Camilla Petrycer Hansen, Novo Seeds Senior Associate, will also join the Board. In addition, Benny Sørensen, MD, PhD, will join the Board as an Independent Non-Executive Director and plans to leverage his impressive track record of preclinical and clinical development experience from the biotech and pharmaceutical industries in both Europe and the US. Dr. Sørensen currently serves as Senior Vice President, Head of Clinical Development at Codiak BioSciences.

Jørgen Søberg Petersen, Chairman of the Board and Partner at Novo Seeds, said: “Our mission is to create and build world class companies that are developing innovative treatments for patients with unmet medical needs. In Hemab we bring together a strong R&D team with successful industry experience and deep expertise in bleeding disorders, with clinically validated technologies from Novo Nordisk A/S and Genmab A/S. Hemab’s unique approach offers breakthrough potential for the development of preventive treatments across several underserved hematological diseases where there are currently no effective preventive treatment options.”

About Hemab

Hemab ApS is an emerging biotech company supported by Novo Seeds with the aim of developing novel treatments for rare and underserved bleeding disorders. Based in Copenhagen, the company is led by a team of drug developers and scientists with deep expertise in haemophilia. Hemab has exclusive licences to state-of-the-art antibody technologies from both Novo Nordisk A/S and Genmab A/S.

About Novo Holdings A/S

Novo Holdings is recognized as a leading international life science investor, with a focus on creating long-term value. As a life science investor, Novo Holdings provides seed and venture capital to development-stage companies and takes significant ownership positions in growth and well-established companies.  Novo Holdings also manages a broad portfolio of diversified financial assets. Further information: http://www.novoholdings.dk