Biotechnology firm Rhenovia Pharma secured $738,000 or €540,000 for its second funding round from its historical stakeholders, a statement about the financing said. The company which leads in the application of biosimulation to prevent and treat disorders of the central nervous system received initial financing from an investor pool drawn from Alsace Business Angels and the SODIV fund in 2009.

Rhenovia Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Serge Bischoff said in the statement, "The unfailing support of our historical shareholders has helped us to become the world leader in biosimulation of the central nervous system and to sign our first contracts with industrial partners. This second round of funding is key to building our business development."

Established in 2007, Rhenovia is a company based in Mulhouse, France and Cambridge, Massachusetts that utilizes technology to come up with computer simulators that forecast the effect of molecules in healthy patients as well as in those with Alzheimer's, Parkinsons, epilepsy and depression, among others. These simulators lessen the need to undertake animal testing. The technology can also be applied in the pharmaceutical and agrifood industries as well as in civilian and military security, the statement said.

Rhenovia also unveiled plans to complete a €2 million third funding round this year which will welcome new investors, specifically family offices. For the most part, the biotechnology firm has self-funded its growth to a large extent. Now, it plans to bolster its development in the pharmaceutical, agrifood and neurotoxicity markets where it now has client contracts, the statement said.

Rhenovia's technology allows the pharmaceutical industry to reduce research and development costs by identifying new drug candidates and lessening the lead times for their development. The company's simulators also help the agrifood sector by studying the effect of neutraceuticals, foodstuffs and supplements to the central nervous system. As far as the neurotoxicity market is concerned, Rhenovia's technology could also help in coming up with antidotes to poison gas, the statement said.