VCs Back ObsEva With $35M For Trials On Pre-term Labor Drug

29 Aug 2013

• By Paul Bonanos

The Swiss start-up will conduct a Phase II study on a compound that may reduce or prevent pre-term labor contractions, licensed from Merck Serono. It hopes to follow in the footsteps of another women's health company, PregLem, which provided exceptional returns with the same CEO and similar investors.

Three venture firms have backed European start-up ObsEva SA in a CHF 32 million ($34.9 million) Series A round of funding that will be used to develop a portfolio of women’s health drug candidates obtained from Merck Serono SA.

Paris-based Sofinnova Partners led the round, while Sofinnova Ventures of Menlo Park, Calif., and Novo A/S of Denmark participated. MS...