Four years after closing the BioDiscovery 3 at €156 million, Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners is now on the road raising a €200 million fourth fund to invest innovative European life sciences companies. The French venture capitalist started fundraising three weeks ago and is confident that it will be able to complete a first closing at more than €100 million by the end of April or early May.

PDC Biotech, a privately held Austrian biopharmaceutical development company, is about to start a Phase I trial of PDC31 to treat otherwise healthy women with primary dysmenorrhoea, a disabling condition found in 10-15% of women of childbearing age which causes severe abdominal pain. The Phase I trial will be conducted at three clinical sites in Austria and in Germany and will evaluate the safety and pharmacokinetics of the compound as well as its effects on uterine contractility.

Each month, Start-Up presents a comprehensive review of young, private life science companies that have received venture funding during the month, including companies in the pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostic and research instrumentation & reagent sectors.