Lumavita AG is a specialty biopharmaceutical company dedicated to bring to market innovative anti-infectives for women’s health. Based in Basel, Switzerland, Lumavita was recently financed by a syndicate, lead by Atlas Venture, with CHF18 million (EUR11 million). The company has one product under regulatory review in Switzerland and two further projects in clinical development.

Management

Lumavita has an experienced management team whose competencies focus on worldwide development and commercialisation of both anti-infectives and women’s health products. Dr. Cees Winnips is the company’s co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer with a significant background in pharmaceutical development. Nicholas Benedict, Lumavita’s CEO, has complementary experiences in commercial roles including COO of Novartis UK and Chief Business Officer for Basilea Pharmaceutica.

Products

Lumavita’s product portfolio includes FemiFect® (pentamycin) an antibiotic for the treatment of vaginitis. FemiFect® is unique because, unlike currently available therapies, it has the potential to treat all three major causes of vaginitis (bacterial, fungal and protozoal infections). Vaginitis is a common problem affecting up to 10% of women every year, generating 110 million prescriptions with a worldwide market value of $2.4 billion. Key milestones targeted for FemiFect® include imminent launch in Switzerland, regulatory submission around the world and completion of the on-going Phase IIb dose-optimisation programme for Europe and North America.

Distribution

Lumavita has an established network of distributors across 116 countries for commercialisation of FemiFect®.

Also in Lumavita’s portfolio is LMV-601, a first-in-class PC-PLC inhibitor. LMV-601 is in Phase I clinical development for the potential treatment of viral infections such as Human Papilloma Virus. LMV-601 was discovered at DKFZ, Germany’s renowned Cancer Research Centre.

Both FemiFect® (pentamycin) and LMV-601 are anti-infective products targeted towards gynaecologists, a specialty target audience.

Lumavita runs an asset-light business model outsourcing its requirements for laboratory services, clinical trials and manufacturing.