Inflexion provides Partnership Capital minority funding to Proteros

Inflexion is pleased to announce it has made a minority investment into Proteros Biostructures GmbH (“Proteros”), a leading Germany-based, founder-led contract research organisation focused on early-stage drug discovery. The investment is Inflexion’s third in the healthcare sector in the last 12 months following its backing of Upperton and SteriPack in 2022. The investment is being made by Inflexion’s dedicated minority fund, Partnership Capital II.

Proteros is a specialist in structural biology and has created a cutting-edge platform recognised globally by both large pharma and biotechs as capable of unlocking the most technically challenging drug targets. Munich-based Proteros supports many of the world’s top 20 largest pharmaceutical companies and over 200 pharma and biotech partners in the US, Europe and Japan to reach the right results and accelerate their overall research timelines, helping them to lead optimisation and clinical programmes. The firm was founded in 2000 by Dr Torsten Neuefeind (CEO) and Nobel Laureate Prof. R Huber, and today it boasts leading technologies that enable users to map the shape of a drug target with a high degree of precision.

With the support of Inflexion as a minority investor, Proteros aims to scale globally both organically and through acquisition, particularly in the US. The firm also aims to draw on Inflexion’s proven expertise in healthcare and commercial strategy to further strengthen Proteros’ overall value proposition for its blue-chip customer base. Torsten will continue to lead the company as Founder and CEO and retains the majority shareholding in Proteros.  

David Whileman, Head of Partnership Capital at Inflexion, commented, “The founders are visionaries in their field, and we are delighted to marry our healthcare expertise and unique minority capital offering to support the further international growth and development of Proteros.”   

Dr Torsten Neuefeind, Founder and CEO of Proteros, said, "I am thrilled to have Inflexion on board as a partner. Their track record in backing high-growth businesses combined with their life sciences experience gives me great conviction that they are well placed to support Proteros in its further growth trajectory.” 

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close in Q1 2023.

Inflexion were advised by Baird (lead financial advisor), Travers Smith (Legal), KPMG (FDD), EY (Tax) and PWC (CDD).