Opterion Health AG has announced its intention to vacate its current headquarters in Sarnen in the canton of Obwalden and move to Muttenz in the canton of Basel-Landschaft. The new location is situated in The 5th Floor coworking space. The aim of the move is for Opterion to become part of the Life Sciences ecosystem in the Basel region, the company writes in a press release. Basel Area Business & Innovation, the investment and innovation promotion agency for the region, supported the preclinical company in its preparations for the move to Muttenz.
“We are excited about our relocation to the canton of Basel-Landschaft and that Opterion will now become part of the Basel Area life sciences ecosystem”, says Ricardo Cordero, Vice Chairman of Opterion. He adds: “The support we received from the Basel Area Business & Innovation team to find the best location for Opterion was outstanding. We are truly thankful for this since it saved us much effort and cost.”
The announcement from Opterion comes on the back of a successful bridge financing round, which was reported to be 40 percent oversubscribed. As result, the company was able to raise 8.4 million euros. As the press release explains further, this amount was obtained from a small group of private and institutional investors based in Switzerland and Germany.
Opterion is currently focusing on the preclinical phase for a novel peritoneal dialysis (PD) solution. According to information from the company itself, this is set to “revolutionize” the market and replace the gold standard product of the current market leader.
“The PD market has not seen any significant innovation for over two decades”, explains Guido Grentzmann, founder and CEO/CSO of Opterion. He goes on to add that the solution developed by Opterion not only delivers better therapeutic outcomes, but also offers improved quality of life and survival rates for dialysis patients. In addition, more than 45% of dialysis patients also suffer from diabetes. For this reason, the glucose-free dialysis solution from Opterion represents a “much-needed innovation”. Moreover, a great deal more patients will now be in a position to have dialysis treatment at home.
The “very successful” closing of the financing round means that Opterion will be “in the position of being very comfortably financed for the next two years”, explains CFO Andreas Schmidt in the press release, before adding: “This gives us the opportunity to execute our scientific as well as manufacturing plans and prepare for Phase I with full speed”.
