Jerini

What is Jerini?

Jerini is an investment firm established in 1994, initially as a spin-off from the Medical Faculty (Charité) at Humboldt University in Berlin. The company was created to commercialize the SPOT technology, a proprietary platform for synthesizing large numbers of peptides and analyzing their functions.

From 1995 to 1999, Jerini marketed this platform through fee-for-service projects, which catered to pharmaceutical and biotech companies. The revenue from these projects supported the expansion of the firm and further development of its technology, without the necessity for venture capital in its early phase.

As Jerini's SPOT technology platform gained wider application in drug discovery and proteomics, the firm transitioned into a drug discovery company.

To expedite this transition, Jerini raised €4.6 million in January 2000 through a financing round with local investors IBB-Bet.

GmbH, bmp AG, and tbg. Subsequently, in 2001, the company restructured as an AG (joint-stock company) and secured an additional €20 million in a second private financing round.

This round's investors included TVM, 3i, Polytechnos, Sanders Morris, and Harris, representing an international group.

Additionally, Jerini began to develop its medicinal chemistry platform, PepMed, in 2000, focusing on the identification of peptide lead structures targeting challenging protein targets and their conversion into drug-like molecules. In December 2001, Jerini initiated its first clinical trials with Icatibant, a peptidomimetic bradykinin receptor antagonist designed to treat end-stage liver cirrhosis.

Jerini's investment thesis revolves around leveraging their unique SPOT technology to generate significant advancements in drug discovery, with a special emphasis on converting peptides into viable pharmaceutical candidates.