Sofinnova Partners, a leading European life sciences venture capital firm based in Paris, London and Milan, announced the sale of its portfolio company Corvidia Therapeutics to Novo Nordisk, for $2.1 billion, including an upfront payment of $725 million. Corvidia, an AstraZeneca spin-off, is a clinical-stage company focused on the research, development and commercialization of transformative therapies for cardio-renal diseases. Sofinnova Partners was Corvidia’s sole seed financial investor in 2015 and it has remained the largest shareholder throughout the company’s evolution.
Sofinnova Partners helped recruit Corvidia’s top management team members, including Sylvie Grégoire, a seasoned pharma executive and entrepreneur, in 2016, to chair the Board, and Marc de Garidel as Chief Executive Officer in 2018. Before joining Corvidia, Mr. de Garidel was the Chairman and CEO of Ipsen, a publicly-listed French pharmaceutical company.
Graziano Seghezzi, Managing Partner at Sofinnova Partners, commented, “This acquisition is the culmination of a quintessential Sofinnova Partners investment, from seed to exit. We are especially proud of the high-caliber team we helped establish, which includes veteran executives like Marc de Garidel, who has been instrumental in this deal.”
Mr. de Garidel, CEO of Corvidia, said, “Sofinnova Partners has played a central role in building this company from the very beginning, leveraging its extensive international network to bring in key hires and providing strategic guidance to advance our scientific work around precision therapies for cardiovascular diseases.”
Sofinnova Partners co-founded Corvidia alongside Michael Davidson, M.D., a serial entrepreneur and a recognized authority in the field of cardiology. Dr. Davidson was co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of Omthera Pharmaceuticals, for which Sofinnova Partners was also the lead investor, and which was acquired by AstraZeneca for $443 million in 2013.
Mr. Seghezzi added, “This milestone demonstrates the strength of our cornerstone strategy of backing extraordinary entrepreneurs with whom we have long-standing relationships. Moreover, it exemplifies the resilience of our business of developing game-changing therapies that will impact patients’ lives, while consistently generating outsized venture returns for investors, despite the challenges of the current global crisis.”