For Bionyra Pharma co-founder and CEO Frédéric Marrache, M.D., Ph.D., “the planets had to align” to pull him out of his R&D VP role at Sanofi. But after weighing the opportunity to lead immunology and inflammation (I&I) biotech, he decided to take the jump and scratch the entrepreneurial itch he had been feeling for years.
Marrache now leads a company that is emerging from stealth with an oversubscribed Series A round of $165 million co-led by Jeito Capital and Sofinnova Partners, according to a June 22 release. Arkin Bio, Sanofi Ventures, Sixty Degree Capital, Vives Partners and Apollo Health Ventures also participated in the round after the company received seed financing from Sofinnova Partners.