Novo Holdings Co-Leads Adcendo’s Series A Extension to 82M EUR to Ensure Broad Development of its First-in-class ADC Pipeline

Adcendo is developing breakthrough antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for the treatment of cancers with a high unmet medical need

Series A Extension led by Novo Holdings and Ysios Capital, and new investor Pontifax Venture Capital, raising an additional 31M EUR

Novo Holdings was the founding investor and has been supporting Adcendo since 2017

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK – April 4, 2023 – Novo Holdings A/S, a leading international life sciences investor, today announced it co-led the Adcendo Series A extension financing, raising a further 31 million EUR, following the 51 million EUR Series A financing in April 2021. The financing was led by Novo Holdings and Ysios Capital, and new investor Pontifax Venture Capital. Current investors RA Capital Management, HealthCap and Gilde Healthcare also participated.

The financing will support Adcendo’s scientific and corporate growth plans, including the initiation of a broad clinical development program for uPARAP ADC in Sarcoma. Adcendo is also planning to advance the development of its 2nd ADC pipeline asset with a Development Candidate Nomination (DCN) planned in H1 2024.

Michael Pehl, Chief Executive Officer of Adcendo, said: “This financing underscores the confidence that our investors have in Adcendo’s capabilities and potential to develop innovative ADC cancer therapies in high unmet medical need cancers. 2022 was a pivotal year for Adcendo with the expansion of our team, uPARAP ADC Development Candidate Nomination and the recent linker/payload license agreement with Duality Biologics. This financing will enable us to ensure a broad development program of our lead asset uPARAP and further advance our 2nd first-in-class ADC pipeline asset.”

Jeroen Bakker, Board of Directors of Adcendo and Principal at Novo Holdings said: “As a founding investor we are excited to continue to support Adcendo in the next phase of its clinical plan. ADCs offer a well-validated therapeutic modality that has become a cornerstone treatment for many cancer patients. The trust and support shown by investors is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the Adcendo team.”

About Novo Holdings
Novo Holdings is a holding and investment company that is responsible for managing the assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The purpose of Novo Holdings is to improve people’s health and the sustainability of society and the planet by generating attractive long-term returns on the assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation. Wholly owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Novo Holdings is the controlling shareholder of Novo Nordisk and Novozymes (the Novo Group companies) and manages an investment portfolio, with a long-term return perspective. In addition to managing a broad portfolio of equities, bonds, real estate, infrastructure and private equity assets, Novo Holdings is a world-leading life science investor. Through its Seeds, Venture, Growth and Principal Investments teams, Novo Holdings invests in life science companies at all stages of development.

As of year-end 2022, Novo Holdings had total assets of EUR 108 billion. Further information: www.novoholdings.dk.

About Adcendo ApS
Adcendo ApS is developing breakthrough antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for the treatment of underserved cancers. In 2023, the company completed a Series A extension financing round, taking its funds to 82M EUR to advance into clinical development. Investors include Novo Holdings, Ysios Capital, Pontifax Venture Capital, RA Capital Management, HealthCap and Gilde Healthcare. For further information, please visit www.adcendo.com

About antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs)
ADCs are a class of highly potent biopharmaceutical drug composed of a targeting antibody linked to a biologically active drug or cytotoxic compound. ADCs combine the unique and very sensitive targeting capabilities of antibodies, with the potent effects of the conjugated cytotoxic drugs, allowing sensitive discrimination between healthy and cancer tissues.

About the uPARAP receptor
uPARAP is a recycling endocytic receptor involved in collagen homeostasis and turnover. uPARAP exhibits a limited expression profile in healthy tissues but is highly upregulated in mesenchymal cancers, including soft-tissue sarcoma & osteosarcoma, making it a highly attractive target for ADC development. In late 2022, Adcendo nominated its ADC development candidate.