The driving force behind our work

The genesis of FinVector

The story of FinVector finds its origins in one of the world’s first gene therapy companies.

The tale of FinVector started in 1993 when Medigene Oy was founded in Finland with a mission to explore genetic therapies and revolutionize medicine. Meanwhile, across the sea in the UK, Ark Therapeutics Ltd emerged in 1997 from the collective efforts of three scientists, Professor John Martin, Mr Stephen Barker and Professor Seppo Ylä-Herttuala, focusing on gene-based treatments.

At the change of the millennium, in the year 2000, Medigene Oy underwent a transformation into Oy Quattrogene Ltd, expanding its global presence. A year after the name change, the paths of these two companies converged. Ark Therapeutics Ltd acquired Oy Quattrogene Ltd and renamed it Ark Therapeutics Oy.

Ark Therapeutics Group PLC went public on the London Stock Exchange in 2004. The company dedicated itself to the research and development of viral-based gene therapy products, focusing first on a type of brain cancer of which development encountered regulatory challenges that necessitated further research.

In 2013, merely a decade after going public, Ark Therapeutics Group PLC sold its operating subsidiaries to WKD Holding Oy, leading to the birth of FinVector Vision Therapies Ltd (UK) and FinVector Vision Therapies Oy (Finland).

The company becomes part of the Ferring umbrella

A year after the WKD Holding deal, Trizell Holding SA, ultimately owned by the Frederik Paulsen Foundation, acquired 100% of the share capital of FinVector Vision Therapies Ltd. followed by a name change to Trizell Ltd in the UK in 2016. However, in Finland, the company continued to operate under the name FinVector Vision Therapies Oy.

Two years later, the company streamlined its name from FinVector Vision Therapies Oy to FinVector Oy. Around the same time, FinVector’s R&D function was separated as a company of its own, which led to the establishment of Kuopio Center for Gene and Cell Therapy Oy, currently known as Ferring Ventures Oy.

In 2019, a group restructure took place leading Trizell Ltd to dispose of its 100% shareholding of FinVector Oy to its parent company Ferring Ventures S.A. (previously known as Trizell Holding S.A.). As of today, the company continues to operate on the same path.

Over the years, the company and its dedicated team have pioneered the development and regulatory pathway for gene medicine, establishing adenoviral gene therapy as a viable therapeutic platform. The founders’ visionary investment decisions and commitment to developing state-of-the-art facilities in Kuopio have been pivotal to FinVector’s success.