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Anavo Therapeutics to Establish R&D Hub in World-Leading Cancer Research Cluster

Leiden, The Netherlands, and Heidelberg, Germany, August 16, 2021 – Anavo Therapeutics, a global leader in unlocking the full therapeutic potential of human phosphatase biology, today announced that the company has partnered with BioLabs Global, a developer and operator of premium co-working laboratories in the U.S. and Europe, to establish its R&D center as one of the first tenants at the newly established BioLabs life-sciences start-up incubator in Heidelberg, Germany. Anavo’s leadership team joined today’s groundbreaking event in Heidelberg together with representatives from BioLabs Global and their strategic sponsors and partners for the incubator, including Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck KGaA, Eli Lilly and Company, and AbbVie, as well as BioRN, the leading non-profit membership network supporting the life science cluster in the Rhine-Neckar region, and the Mayor of Heidelberg Prof. Dr. Eckart Würzner.

“Anavo has made significant progress since the closing of our EUR 20 million seed financing earlier this year and the decision for the location of our main R&D hub is vital for taking the next steps in building our organization. By establishing an R&D center in Heidelberg in addition to our headquarters in Leiden, we are expanding our reach and talent pool throughout Europe. We will benefit from the vibrant and innovative startup community fostered by the BioLabs ecosystem and as a new BioRN member,” said Dr. Birgit Zech, Chief Executive Officer of Anavo Therapeutics.

“With the German Cancer Research Center, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and several renowned universities and research organizations, Heidelberg is a world-leading hub for academic advancements and cancer research,” said Dr. Gerhard Müller, Chief Scientific Officer of Anavo Therapeutics. “Access to these top tier resources will be invaluable to Anavo as we advance our proprietary IGNITE drug discovery platform and work to develop a portfolio of phosphatase-targeted therapeutic programs to address cancers across a variety of phosphatase target class members spanning multiple indications.”

BioLabs Heidelberg is designed to foster innovation and generate growth for the Rhine-Neckar-Region. BioLabs offers fully equipped and managed lab space, mentoring and direct industry connections to provide entrepreneurs with the infrastructure needed to transform research into products. As one of the first incubators of its kind in Europe, BioLabs Heidelberg is intended to promote and advance entrepreneurship in the region’s leading cluster of world-class life science research.

About Anavo Therapeutics
Anavo Therapeutics is the first company to systematically drug phosphatases, a rich target space previously considered undruggable for decades. We have attracted world-leading scientific expertise in phosphatase-driven disease biology and drug discovery to unlock the full potential of phosphatase-targeted allosteric modulators. In oncology, Anavo is developing multiple first-in-class therapeutic programs and will build on partnerships around its platform to establish a rich pipeline across several indications. Anavo is backed by blue-chip investors M Ventures, INKEF Capital, Taiho Ventures and Bioqube Ventures. For more information, please visit: www.anavotx.com