The latest from small and Emerging Pharma companies featuring the European Life Sciences Coalition, Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, and Ribocure. 

For news on the large and mid-sized bio/pharmaceutical companies, see Global Briefs. 

* European Life Science Coalition Launches  
* Madrigal, Ribocure in $4.4-Bn siRNA Drug Pact 

---

European Life Science Coalition Launches 
The European Life Sciences Coalition (ELSC) has launched, in association with Invest Europe, which represents European private-equity, venture-capital and investment firms, as a means to strengthen Europe’s life-sciences and biotechnology venture-capital ecosystem through greater levels of private and public investment across the sector.  

Founding members of ELSC include Novo Holdings, Cooley (UK) LLP, Covington & Burling LLP, Forbion, HealthCap, Omega Funds, Sofinnova Partners, Van Lanschot Kempen, and the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology. ELSC members collectively manage more than EUR 24 billion ($28 billion) in life-sciences-specific assets and have invested in, or helped found, over 1,400 life-sciences and biotechnology companies, according to information from Invest Europe.  

The ELSC was launched in response to concerns about Europe’s investment landscape, with Europe accounting for only 7% of global life-sciences venture capital and with 66 of 67 European-based biotech initial public offerings in the past six years listed outside the European Union, according to information from Invest Europe.  

Source: Novo Holdings and Invest Europe 

---

Madrigal, Ribocure in $4.4 Bn siRNA Drug Pact 
Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, a West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania bio/pharmaceutical company focused on delivering therapeutics for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), has announced an exclusive global license agreement with Suzhou Ribo Life Science, a Suzhou, China-based bio/pharmaceutical company, and its subsidiary Ribocure Pharmaceuticals AB for six preclinical small interfering RNA (siRNA) programs, in a deal worth up to $4.4 billion ($60 million upfront and $4.4 billion in milestone payments). 

Source: Madrigal Pharmaceuticals