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Aquilón, a Janus Developments Spin-off company, raises 2,0 million in a round of investment

By 5 de July de 2012November 18th, 2020No Comments
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Janus Development team.
 05.07.2012

Aquilón, a Janus Developments Spin-off company, raises 2,0 million in a round of investment

Aquilón CyL, a technology-based Spin-off specializing in the development and commercialization of innovative products and services for animal health, has just closed its first capital increase amounting to 2 million Euros. This biotech has been a project conceived and led by the consultancy firm Janus Developments, located at the Barcelona Science Park, from technologies generated at the University of León and Autonomous University of Barcelona. The initial objective of the company is to start marketing its products at a global level as of 2015-2016.


The finance round was led by promoters of the business project- researchers from the University of León and executives from Janus. In the round of finance were also included the venture capital company Clave Mayor, through its technology fund Seguranza, partially owned by the Ministry of Economy and Employment of the Castilla-León self-governing community and the main saving banks of the Castilla-León self-governing community. Genoma España, through its program InnoCash, has also contributed with 430,000 Euros through a participation loan linked to the capital increase.

With these resources, Aquilón will complete the development of three projects of high economic potential that constitute the founding basis the company. The first two have been developed from research conducted at the University of Leon: a vaccine against swine dysentery and a probiotic product aimed at replacing the use of antibiotics to fight digestive problems during the stage of lactation of swine. The company intends to complete its regulatory process and to license marketing rights worldwide via companies specializing in global reach. The third project is a vaccine for respiratory diseases based on a technology developed and patented by the University of Barcelona, the exploitation rights of which were acquired by Janus in 2010.

According to Luis Ruiz-Avila, CEO of Janus Developments and president of Aquilón, “the closing of the capital increase at hard times like these is a clear symptom of the strength of the business plan, and the enormous source of opportunities of academic research in Spain, both in the veterinary field as well as in the biomedical field in general. “Alberto Villena, dean of research at the University of Leon, firmly believes that “this spin-off reflects a clear commitment from the rectoral governing team to further support the creation of social and economic value from the research and knowledge generated at the University.

Coinciding with the signing of the capital increase, the first Board of Directors of Aquilón Cyl was also duly constituted which comprised representatives from Janus , the University of León and from Seguranza, the venture capital fund.

Aquilón CyL was constituted this last month of March with the aim to prevent and control bacterial infections in animal species through innovative products as alternatives to antibiotics, such as vaccines that prevent infection or mitigate its effects and pre- and probiotics to improve the natural defences of the animals. The first three products of this biotech company are aimed at the porcine market, although the respiratory vaccine can also be extended to bovine and ovine markets, and even to the more local rabbit market. Currently, the spin-off is located at the Veterinary Faculty of the University of León and is jointly managed by a team of researchers from the Faculty, under the Scientific Director, Professor Pedro Rubio; the Strategic and Financial Management Division of Janus, and the Commercial Management of Joan Marca, former executive of companies such as Virbac or Calier.

Janus Developments mission is to transform biomedical knowledge generated in universities, hospitals and research centers into economic and social value, acting as an incubator of projects in the more initial stages of the generation of knowledge, and investing up to € 200,000 to facilitate the entry of this knowledge into the value chain. The company´s headquarters are located at the Barcelona Science Park and since its foundation, in May of 2009 – has promoted the development of 20 patented technologies of academic origin of which it has acquired exclusive exploitation rights; has created two companies to continue the developments of technologies and has licensed two projects to pharmaceutical companies.