Novo Holdings Portfolio Company Invetx to be Acquired by Dechra Pharmaceuticals

• Transaction values animal health therapeutics pioneer at up to $520 million

• Novo Holdings co-led Invetx Series B financing round in 2022

Boston, MA, July 18, 2024 – Novo Holdings A/S, a leading international life sciences investor, today announced that its portfolio company, Invetx, has agreed to be acquired by Dechra Pharmaceuticals Limited (“Dechra”), an international veterinary pharmaceuticals business, for up to $520 million in total consideration on a cash-free and debt-free basis.

Invetx is a pioneer in creating novel, protein-based animal health therapeutics to transform standards of care in veterinary medicine. With its best-in-class, fully integrated discovery development and commercial manufacturing platform, Invetx leverages validated biotechnologies for human health to create species-specific, optimized and half-life extended monoclonal antibody (mAb) candidates to treat a wide variety of chronic and serious diseases in animals. 

Novo Holdings co-led Invetx’s Series B financing round in 2022, which enabled Invetx to advance its mAb pipeline and pursue market approvals for therapeutics targeting chronic and serious diseases in dogs and cats. This investment reflects Novo Holdings’ strong track record of investing in and nurturing the development of innovative life sciences companies that are at the forefront of the development of cutting-edge solutions. Invetx was incubated by Anterra Capital, a Boston and Amsterdam based venture capital firm focused on investments in animal health and agrifood innovation.

Marcus Remmers, Partner, Planetary Health Investments, Novo Holdings, said: “We’re proud to have supported the Invetx team over the past two years and look forward to following their continued growth and success as they advance their promising pipeline. Invetx shares our passion for innovation and impact, and this milestone is a testament to Invetx’s market opportunity and the strength of its innovative, sector-defining offering.” 

Juergen Horn, Dr.med.vet., PhD, chief executive officer and co-founder, Invetx, said: “We are grateful to Novo Holdings for the invaluable guidance and support their Planetary Health team has provided Invetx. Through our partnership, we have made significant progress in advancing our pipeline of protein-based therapies to improve outcomes for pets and are well on our way to redefining possibilities in veterinary care. As a global leader in veterinary medicine, Dechra is an ideal partner for our next chapter and fully aligned with our vision to shape the next generation of animal care.”

About Novo Holdings A/S
Novo Holdings is a holding and investment company that is responsible for managing the assets and the wealth 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 A/S and Novonesis A/S and manages an investment portfolio with a long-term return perspective. Novo Holdings is a world-leading life sciences investor. Through its Seed, Venture, Growth, Principal Investments, Planetary Health Investments and Asia teams, Novo Holdings invests directly in life science companies at all stages of development. In addition, it manages a broad portfolio of Capital Investments, including equities, bonds, fixed income, real estate, and infrastructure assets.

As of year-end 2023, Novo Holdings had total assets of EUR 149 billion. www.novoholdings.dk

About Invetx
Invetx is a pioneer in creating novel, protein-based animal health therapeutics to transform standards of care in veterinary medicine. The company leverages a best-in-class, fully integrated biotechnology platform for the discovery, development, and manufacturing of veterinary monoclonal antibodies, and is developing a diverse product pipeline addressing chronic and severe diseases in companion animals.

Invetx has raised $86 million since 2018, including investors F-Prime Capital, Novo Holdings, GV, Eight Roads, Anterra Capital, Casdin Capital and funds managed by Tekla Capital Management, LLC. The company has strategic partnerships with Boehringer Ingelheim, a global leader in animal health, AbCellera, a global technology company specializing in antibody discovery, Twist Bioscience, a leading and rapidly growing synthetic biology and genomics company, and WuXi Biologics, a global company with leading biologics technology platforms.

Invetx is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. For more information, see www.invetx.com.

About Dechra
Dechra is a global specialist veterinary pharmaceuticals and related products businesses. Dechra’s expertise is in the development, manufacture, and sales and marketing of high quality products, exclusively for veterinarians, to support the sustainable improvement of animal health and welfare worldwide. For more information, please visit: www.dechra.com