Summary sheet
The project supports a Swedish biotech company specialising in developing, manufacturing and commercialising laminins for cell culture and cell therapy applications. It will finance research, development and innovation (RDI) activities aimed at expanding the laminin product portfolio and optimising and scaling manufacturing processes.
The aim is to primarily support the promoter's pipeline expansion as well as increasing its manufacturing footprint.
The operation contributes to the InvestEU objective of research, development, and innovation. The purpose of the loan is to provide direct, equity-type financing under the EIB's Venture Debt Instrument to support the research, development, and innovation (RDI) activities of a Swedish biotech company developing innovative products for cell therapy applications, serving conditions with unmet medical needs.
The financing of this project addresses a failure in financial markets for RDI, which arises from limited access to appropriate financing due to factors such as information asymmetries and misaligned incentives. By generating knowledge externalities, the project is expected to deliver significant socio-economic benefits, strengthen Sweden's and Europe's position in the life sciences sector, and contribute to the creation and retention of skilled jobs.
EIB's financing will be complementary to VCs, family offices and institutional investors.
By financing a portion of the investment the EIB will provide a significant cash runway for the Promoter to further develop its R&D activities, accelerate the growth of its pipeline and enable it to scale operations. In addition, the Venture Debt product the EIB offers helps the Company to diversify its current financing structure and provides a positive signalling effect to incentivise further support from other financing sources. The project would not have been carried out to the same extent by the EIB without the support of InvestEU.
The concerned RDI activities are expected to be carried out in the promoter's existing facilities or other research centres already authorised for the same purpose and would therefore not require an environmental impact assessment (EIA) under the Directive 2014/52/EU amending the EIA Directive 2011/92/EU. Full environmental details will be verified during the appraisal by the EIB for compliance of the project with the relevant European legislation.
The EIB will require that all project contracts are procured in accordance with the applicable EU procurement legislation.