Munich \u2014 EQT Life Scien\u00adces is plea\u00adsed to announce its parti\u00adci\u00adpa\u00adtion in a Series A finan\u00adcing round tota\u00adling 115 million U.S. dollars (86 million GBP) in RQ Bio, a UK-based biotech\u00adno\u00adlogy company deve\u00adlo\u00adping anti\u00adbody thera\u00adpies to prevent influ\u00adenza in high-risk groups and immu\u00adn\u00ado\u00adcom\u00adpro\u00admi\u00adsed indi\u00advi\u00addu\u00adals. The invest\u00adment was made through one of the funds mana\u00adged by EQT. <\/p>\n
The funding round was led by Frazier Life Scien\u00adces, with parti\u00adci\u00adpa\u00adtion from new inves\u00adtors EQT Life Scien\u00adces, Forbion, Mono\u00adgraph, and Welling\u00adton Manage\u00adment, as well as exis\u00adting inves\u00adtors Life\u00adArc, Oxford Science Enter\u00adpri\u00adses, and Oxford Univer\u00adsity Inno\u00adva\u00adtion. The Series A finan\u00adcing will support the clini\u00adcal deve\u00adlo\u00adp\u00adment of RQ Bio\u2019s lead program, RQB01, and help advance the company\u2019s broad pipe\u00adline of thera\u00adpies for other infec\u00adtious diseases. <\/p>\n
RQ Bio was foun\u00added in 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n RQ Bio was foun\u00added in 2021 by four leading scien\u00adtists in the field of infec\u00adtious dise\u00ada\u00adses and is deve\u00adlo\u00adping new anti\u00adbody thera\u00adpies desi\u00adgned to protect people from seaso\u00adnal flu for an entire season with just a single treat\u00adment. The company\u2019s flag\u00adship program is advan\u00adcing toward clini\u00adcal deve\u00adlo\u00adp\u00adment and is desi\u00adgned to provide compre\u00adhen\u00adsive protec\u00adtion for high-risk pati\u00adents, inclu\u00adding those who remain at risk despite exis\u00adting vacci\u00adna\u00adtion strategies. <\/p>\n EQT Life Scien\u00adces will support RQ Bio in advan\u00adcing its lead program, RQB01, into the clini\u00adcal phase and further expan\u00adding its broa\u00adder pipe\u00adline. Drawing on its expe\u00adri\u00adence in support\u00ading inno\u00adva\u00adtive biotech\u00adno\u00adlogy compa\u00adnies through clini\u00adcal deve\u00adlo\u00adp\u00adment, EQT Life Scien\u00adces will work along\u00adside manage\u00adment and the inves\u00adtor consor\u00adtium to scale the company, streng\u00adthen its deve\u00adlo\u00adp\u00adment capa\u00adbi\u00adli\u00adties, and drive its long-term growth. <\/p>\n Felice Verduyn-van Weegen, a part\u00adner at EQT Life Scien\u00adces<\/strong>, said: \u201cDespite the avai\u00adla\u00adbi\u00adlity of exis\u00adting treat\u00adments, influ\u00adenza conti\u00adnues to pose a signi\u00adfi\u00adcant burden on at-risk groups. RQ Bio\u2019s approach\u2014to provide long-lasting, season-long protec\u00adtion with a single dose\u2014addresses a clear unmet need among pati\u00adents who remain at the highest risk.\u201d<\/p>\n Mike Westby, CEO of RQ Bio<\/strong>, said: \u201cInflu\u00adenza conti\u00adnues to pose a serious and persis\u00adtent threat to pati\u00adents whose immune systems cannot rely solely on vacci\u00adna\u00adtion. Our vision is to deve\u00adlop a preven\u00adtive therapy that provi\u00addes relia\u00adble protec\u00adtion for an entire flu season with a single dose. This funding will support the clini\u00adcal deve\u00adlo\u00adp\u00adment of RQB01 and advance our proprie\u00adtary approach to anti\u00adbody disco\u00advery to build a pipe\u00adline of thera\u00adpeu\u00adtic candi\u00adda\u00adtes for the preven\u00adtion of respi\u00adra\u00adtory viral diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n As part of the finan\u00adcing, RQ Bio appoin\u00adted Chris\u00adtian S. Schade as Execu\u00adtive Chair\u00adman. Most recently, he served as Presi\u00addent and CEO of Halda Thera\u00adpeu\u00adtics, which was acqui\u00adred by John\u00adson & John\u00adson in Decem\u00adber 2025 for $3.0 billion. He brings exten\u00adsive leader\u00adship, board, and tran\u00adsac\u00adtion expe\u00adri\u00adence from across the biotech\u00adno\u00adlogy sector. As Execu\u00adtive Chair\u00adman, he will work closely with the manage\u00adment team and the board of direc\u00adtors to steer the company\u2019s stra\u00adtegy and support its contin\u00adued growth. <\/p>\n About EQT Life Sciences<\/strong><\/p>\n EQT Life Scien\u00adces was formed in 2022 through the inte\u00adgra\u00adtion of LSP, a leading Euro\u00adpean venture capi\u00adtal firm in the life scien\u00adces and health\u00adcare sectors, into the EQT plat\u00adform. As LSP, the firm has raised more than 3.0 billion euros (3.5 billion U.S. dollars) since it began inves\u00adt\u00ading over 30 years ago and has supported the growth of more than 150 compa\u00adnies. With a dedi\u00adca\u00adted team of highly expe\u00adri\u00aden\u00adced invest\u00adment profes\u00adsio\u00adnals with back\u00adgrounds in medi\u00adcine, science, busi\u00adness, and finance, EQT Life Scien\u00adces supports the brigh\u00adtest inno\u00adva\u00adtors whose ideas can truly make a diffe\u00adrence for pati\u00adents. \u2014 https:\/\/eqtgroup.com\/private-capital\/eqt-life-sciences <\/p>\n About RQ Bio RQ Bio was foun\u00added in 2021 and has a highly expe\u00adri\u00aden\u00adced team with a proven track record in deve\u00adlo\u00adping long-acting anti\u00adbo\u00addies against viral target mole\u00adcu\u00adles. RQ Bio is backed by a strong consor\u00adtium of specia\u00adli\u00adzed investors\u2014Frazier Life Scien\u00adces, EQT Life Scien\u00adces, Mono\u00adgraph, Welling\u00adton, Forbion, Life\u00adArc, Oxford Science Enter\u00adpri\u00adses, and Oxford Univer\u00adsity Innovation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Munich \u2014 EQT Life Scien\u00adces is plea\u00adsed to announce its parti\u00adci\u00adpa\u00adtion in a Series A finan\u00adcing round tota\u00adling 115 million U.S. dollars (86 million GBP) in RQ Bio, a UK-based biotech\u00adno\u00adlogy company deve\u00adlo\u00adping anti\u00adbody thera\u00adpies to prevent influ\u00adenza in high-risk groups and immu\u00adn\u00ado\u00adcom\u00adpro\u00admi\u00adsed indi\u00advi\u00addu\u00adals. The invest\u00adment was made through one of the funds mana\u00adged by EQT. [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60478,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1366],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en"],"yoast_head":"\n
\n<\/strong>
\n RQ Bio is a UK-based biotech company which is deve\u00adlo\u00adping a long-acting mono\u00adclonal anti\u00adbody against seaso\u00adnal influ\u00adenza with the aim of provi\u00adding immu\u00adn\u00ado\u00adcom\u00adpro\u00admi\u00adsed and high-risk pati\u00adents with imme\u00addiate, effec\u00adtive, and long-lasting protec\u00adtion against severe viral dise\u00ada\u00adses. The company is advan\u00adcing the deve\u00adlo\u00adp\u00adment of its lead product, RQB01\u2014a long-acting, highly effec\u00adtive, and broadly active dual mono\u00adclonal antibody\u2014through clini\u00adcal trials aimed at obtai\u00adning IND approval. <\/p>\n