Former CEO of Biogen, Michel Vounatsos, Appointed Board Chairman of Lenis
Great Point Partners ("GPP" or "the Firm"), a Greenwich-based private investment firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry, today announced that it has acquired a majority stake in Lenis Group ("Lenis" or "the Company"), a fast-growing Slovenian-based full-service regional commercialization and distribution partner for niche and specialty Rx medicines in Central and Eastern Europe ("CEE").
Founded in 2008, Lenis has become a trusted partner to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies across the highly complex but rapidly growing CEE region, covering the entire product lifecycle from early access and pre-launch, through launch and growth, to mature lifecycle management.
The Company is recognized for its strong compliance culture, market access and reimbursement capabilities, regulatory expertise, and high-quality medical and marketing functions, enabled by its direct CEE presence and embedded cross-functional teams. In local markets, Lenis is an important stakeholder in ensuring the continuous availability of critical therapies, working in close collaboration with healthcare institutions and professionals, regulatory authorities, NGOs and patient organizations.
As part of the investment, Lenis' existing management team plan to remain with the business on a day-to-day basis. Resources are also being committed to the Company's ambitious regional expansion and to further strengthen its senior leadership, including with the appointment of Michel Vounatsos, formerly Chief Executive Officer of Biogen, as Board Chairman.
GPP's investment marks a new chapter of growth and expansion for Lenis, enabling the Company to accelerate its vision of broadening access to high-quality specialty medicines throughout the CEE region. This momentum is underscored by Gilead Sciences' recent decision to extend its longstanding relationship with Lenis, maintaining the Company as its exclusive full-service distributor in the eight countries of the Adriatic region.
"When selecting a partner for this next stage in our development, we sought a group that could bring true value and share the support of the mission that we are deeply committed to," said Branko Huc, Founder of Lenis Group. "Great Point Partners' unrivaled healthcare expertise made them the clear choice. Our entire team is excited about what we will accomplish together as we continue expanding into new markets across the CEE region and beyond."
"Every country deserves a strong and reliable pharmaceutical supply chain, and there is no company with the track record, expertise and unparalleled quality and compliance standards in the CEE that matches that of the Lenis Group," said David Slattery, Great Point Partners' Principal and Head of the firm's London office. "We look forward to partnering with the Lenis team to firmly establish the Company as the go-to player for market access, promotion and distribution of pharmaceutical products in the region, leveraging its extensive KOL network and therapeutic-area expertise."
About Great Point Partners
Great Point Partners, founded in 2003 and based in Greenwich, CT, is a leading health care investment firm with 30 professionals, investing in the United States, Canada, and Europe. GPP is currently making new minority and majority private equity investments from GPP IV. Great Point manages approximately $1.7B of capital (including committed and uncalled capital) in its private funds and public life sciences equity strategy (BioMedical Value Fund). Great Point Partners has provided growth equity, growth recapitalization, and management buyout financing to more than 100 growing health care companies. The private equity funds invest across all sectors of the health care industry with a particular emphasis on biopharmaceutical services and supplies, alternate site care, medical device contract manufacturing and information technology enabled businesses. The firm pursues a proactive and proprietary approach to sourcing investments and tuck-in acquisitions for its portfolio companies.
About Lenis Group
Lenis Group is a full-service commercialization partner for niche and specialty prescription medicines, recognized as a key access enabler across the CEE region. By combining market access, regulatory, medical, marketing, quality, pharmacovigilance and GMP/GDP-compliant distribution capabilities, Lenis simplifies entry into this fragmented region and offers turnkey ("one stop shop") solutions to its pharma partners. With a strong track record in launches of innovative medicines, Lenis also manages early access programs, unlicensed medicine supply and drug-shortage mitigation, with a focus on infectology, oncology, neurology, rare diseases and other high-impact specialties. In close collaboration with hospitals, NGOs and patient organizations, Lenis designs pragmatic access pathways that address local reimbursement, regulatory and logistical barriers, helping to improve treatment outcomes and standard of care for vulnerable patient populations across the CEE and Adriatic markets.
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