• Galecto was first incubated by Novo Seeds and funded through the pre-seed grant programme of the Novo Nordisk Foundation

• Underscores Novo Seeds investment strategy of supporting companies across their life-cycle

Novo Seeds, the early stage investment and company creation team of Novo Holdings, today announced that its portfolio company Galecto Inc. (Galecto), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing therapeutics that are designed to target the biological processes that lie at the heart of fibrosis and impact a broad range of fibrotic and related diseases, including cancer, has announced the pricing of its initial public offering [of 5,666,667 shares of common stock at a public offering price of $15.00 per share] and trading on the Nasdaq Global Market on October 29, 2020 under the ticker symbol “GLTO.”

The gross proceeds from the offering, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses payable by Galecto, are expected to be approximately $85.0 million.

Søren Møller, Managing Partner at Novo Seeds, commented: “As the original incubators and first investor in Galecto, we are very proud of the company’s accomplishments to date and congratulate the team on this important milestone. We are especially proud of the high-caliber team we helped establish and of the role we played in the company’s growth since its early days. This milestone serves as a case-study of the Novo Seeds investment model, from seed to the public markets.”

From its origins at the University of Lund, Galecto’s science was first incubated through the pre-seed grant programme of the Novo Nordisk Foundation in 2010, and subsequently Novo Seeds led its first seed investment round in 2011. Novo Seeds was instrumental in recruiting the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Hans Schambye who has been driving the Company’s progress since the start. In addition, Novo Seeds led the company’s  fundraise in 2018, and also participated in the company’s most recent financing round alongside a syndicate of international investors.

Søren Møller, Managing Partner at Novo Seeds, added: “Galecto is an excellent example of what can be achieved when the critical components of a biotech ecosystem are brought together to translate breakthrough innovation in the Nordics into a global biotech player.  This news coupled with portfolio company Orphozyme’s recent dual listing, demonstrates the strength of our strategy of backing enterprises from an early stage across their life-cycle through real inflection points to address unmet medical need. With ten clinical companies in our portfolio, we look forward to continuing supporting them navigate these exciting times for the life sciences industry.”

The company’s press release can be found here.