Angelini Ventures: new investments in "Wearable therapies" and nanotechnologies

Rome – 31st January 2024 - "Wearable therapies" and nanotechnologies: these are the investment areas with which Angelini Ventures, the international venture capital firm of Angelini Industries, the Italian industrial group active in the health, industrial technology, and consumer goods sectors, opens 2024 thanks to two investments worth a total of approximately €8 million.

The first investment concerns Noctrix Health, Inc., an American startup that has developed the first wearable technological device to treat restless leg syndrome, a neurological disorder that causes discomfort in the lower limbs, especially at night, and negatively affects sleep quality. The second investment is directed at COUR Pharmaceuticals, an American company that uses advanced nanotechnologies to treat autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes and celiac disease.

Founded in 2022 with an endowment of €300 million, Angelini Ventures has already planned investments of over €80 million in Europe and North America. The current portfolio includes 15 direct investments in startups (5 of which are through the Angelini Lumira Biosciences Fund), the creation of two startup studios that promote technology transfer, and support for a scientific research project.

Angelini Ventures' investment in Noctrix Health, Inc. is part of an overall series C round of €40 million led by Sectoral Asset Management, with new investors Asahi Kasei America and Resmed, Inc., as well as Angelini Ventures itself, and strong support from other investors including OrbiMed and Treo Ventures

In particular, the new funding will support the development of NidraTM Tonic Motor Activation (TOMAC), the technology created by Noctrix Health, towards its expected launch in the American market. NidraTM involves the use of two bands, to be applied just below the knees, that contain a device capable of stimulating the spinal cord through electrical impulses and generating a response that activates the muscles in the lower legs and reduces the symptoms of restless leg syndrome. NidraTM is currently the first and only treatment approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reduce symptoms and improve sleep quality in adults with forms of restless leg syndrome resistant to drugs. In particular, NidraTM obtained from the FDA, at the beginning of 2023, the "De Novo" authorization for medical devices.

The technology developed by COUR Pharmaceuticals, a US biotechnology company specializing in the development of therapies using nanotechnologies for the reprogramming of the immune system, is aimed at patients with autoimmune diseases such as celiac disease and type 1 diabetes. Angelini Ventures' investment is part of a series A round worth €105 million, co-led by Lumira Ventures and Alpha Wave Ventures, with the participation of Roche Venture Fund, Pfizer (through Pfizer Breakthrough Growth Initiative), Bristol Myers Squibb and JDRF T1D Fund. The funding will enable COUR to develop phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, myasthenia gravis, which causes muscle fatigue, and type 1 diabetes. Autoimmune diseases are caused by an immune system reaction that mistakenly attacks healthy cells and tissues that perform important functions. COUR's goal is to introduce into the body, through nanoparticles, the very molecules that the body perceives as foreign and dangerous (antigens) to "teach" the immune system to recognize them and not attack them. The nanotechnologies developed by COUR make it possible to transport a large quantity and variety of antigens into the body without toxic effects, thus increasing the possibility that the immune system will learn not to attack them. With this type of technology, COUR has already achieved significant clinical results in the field of celiac disease and colangitis.

Media contacts

Angelini Industries

Alessandra Favilli – Group Chief Communication Officer

alessandra.favilli@angeliniholding.com – press@angeliniindustries.com

SEC Newgate Italia

Daniele Pinosa – daniele.pinosa@secnewgate.it – +39 3357233872

Fausta Tagliarini – fausta.tagliarini@secnewgate.it – +39 3476474513

Daniele Murgia – daniele.murgia@secnewgate.it – +39 3384330031