The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Cellnovo Group (“Cellnovo” or the “Company” CLNV:EN Paris), a medical technology company marketing the first mobile, connected, all-in-one diabetes management system, announce that they have concluded a loan agreement for €20 million (“the Agreement”) to support Cellnovo in its transition to full industrial-scale operations. The Agreement was signed on July 7, 2017 at EIB’s office in Paris, in the presence of Ambroise Fayolle, EIB Vice-President, and Sophie Baratte, Chief Executive Officer of Cellnovo.
The loan is supported by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), which is the central pillar of the European Commission’s Investment Plan for Europe, the so-called “Juncker Plan". Jointly launched by the EIB Group and the European Commission, the Juncker Plan aims to mobilise private investment in projects and sectors such as research and innovation which are strategically important for the European Union. It provides equity-type financing for early stage companies with high growth potential.
The EIB financing will be utilised by the Company to improve the design of the current Cellnovo System with the objective of reducing production costs. The investment will also finance additional production lines as well as multi-centre clinical trials of artificial pancreas solutions in order to obtain clinical data with a view to receiving market authorisations in the United States and Europe.
“EIB is very proud to be contributing to the success of Cellnovo through this new Juncker Plan financing. The Juncker Plan is continuing to develop in France with 70 operations approved to-date, which are expected to generate €27,6bn of additional investment,” commented EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle. ”This signature underlines our commitment to supporting the development of innovative, high value-added companies in Europe. Innovation, particularly in healthcare, is essential to the sustainability of companies, this is why it is a key priority for EIB to support them. In addition, we offer tailored financial products to enable innovative companies such as Cellnovo to pursue their strategy and development.”
Sophie Baratte, Chief Executive Officer of Cellnovo, commented: “We are delighted to sign this loan agreement with the EIB, which provides further recognition of Cellnovo’s position as a leader in the development of innovative technologies in diabetes. Our unique diabetes management system is the result of a rigorous development process aimed at improving the quality of life for peope with type 1 diabetes. This financing will help us to accelerate our research and development projects, as well as increasing our production capacity to meet strong market demand for our connected micro-pump.
