Biotech Elevara Medicines raises £52.4m led by Forbion and Sofinnova Partners
This article covers a series A on 23 October 2025 by Elevara Medicines, a London-based biotech developing an oral CDK4/6 inhibitor for rheumatoid arthritis, founded by Emma Tinsley and Dominique Baeten. It raised £52.42m in a round led by Forbion, with Sofinnova Partners also participating.
What does Elevara Medicines do?
ELV001 is an oral CDK4/6 inhibitor drug candidate that targets synovial fibroblasts in rheumatoid arthritis. It is intended to reduce joint inflammation and tissue damage in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis.
Why is Elevara Medicines useful?
Problem
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis face joint pain, stiffness and tissue damage despite standard immune-suppressing treatments. Many do not achieve low disease activity or remission with methotrexate and TNF inhibitors.
Solution
Elevara Medicines explains that it targets disease-causing synovial fibroblasts with an oral CDK4/6 inhibitor, avoiding direct immune suppression. This approach aims to reduce joint damage and work alongside approved immunomodulators.
How much did Elevara Medicines raise?
Elevara Medicines raised £52.42m ($70m) in a series A led by Forbion and Sofinnova Partners. This makes it the 5th largest funding round in October 2025 (67 recorded). It stands 42nd for 2025 (539 total) in the Startupmag database, as of 23 October 2025.
For details on how Startupmag compiles its rankings, view our Methodology.
Who invested in Elevara Medicines?
The key investors in Elevara's financing included the following.
- Forbion: A European life sciences venture capital firm focused on investing in biopharmaceutical and therapeutic companies at clinical and growth stages.
- Sofinnova Partners: A Europe-based venture capital firm specialising in investments across life sciences, including biotechnology and medical technology.
- Monograph Capital: An investment firm that backs life sciences and biotechnology companies and which also joined the series A.
- Weatherden: A UK clinical development services company that provided Elevara's initial funding and participated in the series A.
If you're researching potential backers in this space:
- Explore our list of biotech venture capital firms in the UK
- Browse our directory of biotech angel investors in the UK
Who founded Elevara Medicines?
The founders of Elevara Medicines are Emma Tinsley and Dominique Baeten.
In the funding announcement, Emma Tinsley, CEO of Elevara Medicines explained:
This $70 million financing provides us with the resources to rapidly advance ELV001 through phase 2 and to expand into other chronic inflammatory indications. We are grateful for the support of our investors and are excited to take this molecule forward with Teijin Pharma.
In the funding announcement, Dominique Baeten, chief medical officer of Elevara Medicines said:
The current standard of care isn’t achieving low disease activity and remission in a large proportion of patients with RA.
Where is Elevara Medicines based?
Elevara Medicines is based in London, UK.
What sector is Elevara Medicines in?
Elevara Medicines operates in the biotechnology sector. Biotechnology uses living cells and biological knowledge to create medicines and health products.
Key trends and challenges in Biotech:
Novel therapeutic modalities
Biotech is shifting to cell, gene and RNA therapies, increasing manufacturing complexity; example CAR-T and mRNA vaccines.
Clinical and regulatory hurdles
Bringing a drug to market often takes over ten years and costs over $1 billion.
Manufacturing and supply bottlenecks
Advanced biologics need specialised facilities, and viral vector shortages have delayed many programmes.
For a deeper look at innovation in this space, see the biotech startups in the UK.
They've invested in Elevara Medicines
Get to know these biotech investors
| Investor | Sector | Stage | Activity | Team | Connect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Monograph Capital | 2 investment(s) investment(s) | 7 contacts contacts | |||
 Forbion | 12 investment(s) investment(s) | more info | |||
 Sofinnova Partners | 2 investment(s) investment(s) | 25 contacts contacts |
Click here for a full list of 7,233+ startup investors in the UK