Venture Funding Deals: I-Mab Is The Mega-Round Leader With $220m Series C

Freeline Therapeutics, I-Mab Biopharma, Kaleido Biosciences and Precision BioSciences raised more than $100m each, but Chinese start-ups continue to bring in some of this year's largest venture capital mega rounds, with $220m in Series C cash to fund development of immuno-oncology and inflammatory disease drug candidates.

Derived from Strategic Transactions, Informa’s premium source for tracking life science deal activity, Venture Funding Deals provides a comprehensive monthly review of emerging biopharmaceutical companies that have raised venture capital. This month’s column covers financings announced in June.

AiVita Biomedical Closes $15m Series B Round

SFC Co. Ltd. invested $15m into regenerative medicine firm AiVita Biomedical through the company's Series B round. Funds will help AiVita expand development of its cancer projects (lead immunotherapy is in development for ovarian cancer), add to its consumer product offerings (in addition to the Root of Skin consumer skin care line), and bring on additional staff.

Series A Brings In $65m For Start-Up Akero

Newly formed Akero Therapeutics Inc. raised $65m in its Series A financing co-led by Apple Tree Partners, Atlas Venture, venBio Partners and Versant Ventures. A representative from each VC firm joins the board.

The company will use the proceeds to advance AKR001, which it concurrently licensed from Amgen Inc.. The compound is a long-acting fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) analog in Phase I for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). (Also see "Akero Thinks It Will Produce A Next-Wave Therapy For NASH With Former Amgen Compound" - Scrip, 25 Jun, 2018.) AKR001 is designed to reduce liver fat and suppress inflammation and fibrosis. It has shown positive effects on key biomarkers of metabolic and cardiovascular disease. In addition to the NASH indication, Akero will also study AKR001 as a treatment for serious metabolic diseases.

BridgeBio Forms, Commits $20m In Funding To Fortify Therapeutics

BridgeBio Pharma has launched Fortify Therapeutics with $20m in financing. BridgeBio concurrently licensed exclusive rights to NeuroVive Pharmaceutical AB’s NVP015 program for Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). Fortify was created specifically to develop NVP015 succinate prodrugs aimed at LHON. NeuroVive will continue developing the program for mitochondrial diseases. (Also see "Deal Watch: Amazon Moves Into Rx Services With Acquisition Of PillPack " - Scrip, 2 Jul, 2018.)

Carisma Therapeutics Raises $53m Through Series A

Carisma Therapeutics Inc. raised $53m through its Series A venture round. AbbVie Ventures and HealthCap led and were joined by seed investors IP Group, Penn Medicine and Grazia Equity, along with new participants Wellington Partners, TPG Biotech, MRL Ventures and Agent Capital.

Carisma was formed last year with about $4m in seed funding to develop its chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) macrophage cellular immunotherapy platform. Combining antigen recognition with the effector function of macrophages, the company hopes to design therapies that can directly kill targeted cells while also launching an adaptive immune response. Carisma plans to have its first candidate in clinical trials in 2019.

Decibel Therapeutics Raises $55m In Series C Round

Decibel Therapeutics raised $55m in its Series C financing round. All prior investors participated, including Third Rock Ventures, GV, SR One and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., and were joined by new backers Foresite Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Schroder Adveq, S-Cubed and Longevity. The company will use the proceeds to advance its clinical and preclinical candidates and to build out its hearing drug discovery and development platform. (Also see "Finance Watch: Dementia Discovery Fund Exceeds Fundraising Goal By $150m" - Scrip, 25 Jun, 2018.)

Series B Brings In €40m For Enyo

Infectious disease-focused Enyo Pharma SAS raised €40m ($46.6m) in a Series B financing led by OrbiMed, which adds a board member and board observer, and was joined by other new backers Andera Partners and Bpifrance Large Venture (both add a board observer), and returning investors Sofinnova Private Capital, Morningside Venture Investments, InnoBio and Inserm Transfert Initiative. The company will use the proceeds to conduct a Phase II trial of EYP001 for hepatitis B and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Enyo plans to move a second compound in to the clinic by 2019. (Also see "Learning From Human Cell Hijacking Masters: ENYO Pharma Takes Virus Tricks Into Drug Discovery" - Scrip, 21 Jun, 2018.)

Freeline Closes £88.4m Series B Round

Freeline Therapeutics Ltd. raised £88.4m ($117.4m) through its Series B round. Series A investor Syncona led with an £85m investment and was joined by UCL Technology Fund, which contributed £3.4m. Freeline is developing liver-targeted adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapies, and will use the Series B funds to support lead candidates for hemophilia B and Fabry disease.

Hangzhou Just Closes $35m B+ Financing

Hangzhou Just Biotherapeutics Ltd., a developer of antibody and protein therapies, raised $35m in its Series B+ financing led by Hillhouse Capital, which was joined by returning shareholders Temasek, Lilly Asia Ventures, Arch Venture Partners, Taikang and BOCGI Zheshang Capital. (Also see "Finance Watch: Pfizer Ventures' Dalton Makes Sense Of Neuroscience Focus Within New $600m VC Fund Commitment" - Scrip, 12 Jun, 2018.)

Founded in 2016, HJB is developing large-molecule therapeutics aimed at cancer, genetic rare diseases and metabolic conditions. In the last year, the firm has completed development of an R&D center and manufacturing facility in China, built up its development capabilities and made key hires. HJB has a partnership with Just Biotherapeutics Inc. involving the development of a biomanufacturing and process development platform for use in the rapid and cost-effective creation of antibodies and recombinant proteins.

I-Mab Closes $220m Series C Round

I-MAB Biopharma raised $220m in its Series C venture round. Hony Capital led and was joined by Hillhouse Capital, HOPU Investments, CDH Investment, Ally Bridge Group, EDBI, C-Bridge Capital and Tasly Capital. The company is developing immuno-oncology and immuno-inflammatory disease treatments, and will use the proceeds to support preclinical and clinical development of the more than 10 projects in its pipeline.

ITeos Closes $75m Series B Round

Cancer immunotherapy firm iTeos Therapeutics SA raised $75m through an oversubscribed Series B round led by new investor MPM Capital. Additional new participants included HBM Partners, 6 Dimensions Capital and Curative Ventures, along with returning backers Fund+, Vives Louvain Technology (Vives II), SRIW and SFPI. Proceeds will support pipeline development, including advancing preclinical candidates EOS100850 (an adenosine A2A antagonist) and EOS884448 (TIGIT immune checkpoint blocking antibody) into the clinic in 2019. (Also see "iTeos Says Adios To IDO And Eyes US IPO " - Scrip, 20 Jun, 2018.)

Kaleido Biosciences Closes $101m Series C Round

Kaleido Biosciences, which is focused on optimizing the human microbiome to treat disease, raised $101m through its Series C round. Founding investor Flagship Pioneering participated, along with a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Fidelity Management & Research, Invus and Rock Springs Capital. (Also see "Finance Watch: Dementia Discovery Fund Exceeds Fundraising Goal By $150m" - Scrip, 25 Jun, 2018.)

Rather than finding ways to add or subtract bacteria to influence microbes that make up the gut microbiome, Kaleido is developing Microbiome Metabolic Therapies (MMTs) to direct functions of the microbiome organ, which already exists in the body. The company’s pipeline has preclinical and clinical projects for conditions including hyperammonemia and urea cycle disorders, hepatic encephalopathy, infectious and renal diseases, diarrhea, cardiovascular and rare metabolic disorders, immuno-oncology and diabetes. Kaleido was formed in 2015 and previously raised $65m through its Series A and B rounds.

Metacrine Closes $65m Series C

Metacrine Inc., which is developing therapies for hepatic, gastrointestinal and metabolic diseases, raised $65m in its Series C financing led by Venrock Healthcare Partners, which was joined by first-time backers Franklin Templeton Investments, Deerfield Management, Arrowmark Partners, Invus, Lilly Asia Ventures, Vivo Capital and undisclosed investors as well as returning shareholders Arch Venture Partners, venBio, Polaris Partners, NEA and Alexandria Venture Investments. Metacrine will use the funding for pipeline development, including initiation of a Phase I trial for lead compound MET409, a farnesoid X receptor for treating NASH, irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea, and inflammatory bowel disease. (Also see "Finance Watch: Pfizer Ventures' Dalton Makes Sense Of Neuroscience Focus Within New $600m VC Fund Commitment" - Scrip, 12 Jun, 2018.)

Nimbus Raises $65m Through Late-Stage Round

Nimbus Therapeutics, which is focused on computational chemistry, structural biology and its ADMET drug discovery platform, raised $65m through what appears to be its Series C round. All existing investors participated, including Atlas Venture, SR One, Lilly Ventures, Bill Gates, Pfizer Venture Investments, Lightstone Ventures and Schrodinger. Nimbus notes that the funding will support the company's ongoing drug discovery efforts and allow it to continue operating as a private entity.

Start-up NodThera Raises $40m In Series A Round

NodThera Ltd., immune/inflammation focused start-up, raised $40m (£28m) in its Series A financing round co-led by Sofinnova Partners and 5AM Ventures (both add a board seat). Epidarex Capital and F-Prime Capital Partners also participated.

The company was created and seed funded by Epidarex Capital in 2016 based on earlier research at Selvita SA, a Polish drug discovery company (also a current shareholder in NodThera). NodThera is developing small molecule inhibitors of the NLRP3 inflammasome, a multi-protein complex which initiates an innate immune response. The current focus is on inflammatory disease and other high unmet medical needs including neurodegenerative conditions and cancer.

Oversubscribed Series B Brings $110m To Precision BioSciences

The gene-editing firm Precision BioSciences Inc. raised $110m through an oversubscribed Series B round. ArrowMark Partners led and was joined by new investors Franklin Templeton Investments, Cowen Healthcare Investments, Brace Pharma Capital, Pontifax AgTech, OCV Partners, Adage Capital Management, Cormorant Asset Management, Gilead Sciences Inc., Vivo Capital, Alexandria Venture Investments, Ridgeback Capital, Agent Capital and entities affiliated with Leerink Partners. Returning backers venBio, F-Prime, RA Capital Management, Amgen Ventures, Osage University Partners, DUMAC and the Longevity Fund also participated.

The company raised $26.5m in Series A capital three years ago. (Also see "Venture Funding Deals, June 2015" - Scrip, 4 Jun, 2015.) The Series B proceeds will support expansion of the company's ARCUS genome-editing platform and help take its lead off-the-shelf chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy candidate into clinical trials.

Skyhawk Raises $40m Through Series A round Concurrent With Celgene Deal

The small-molecule drug discovery firm Skyhawk Therapeutics Inc. raised $40m through its Series A round from Alexandria Venture Investments, GreatPoint Ventures, Celgene Corp., ShangPharma Innovation, Agent Capital and major family investors including Tim Disney, the Duke of Bedford, the Reilly family and others. Skyhawk was seeded earlier this year with $8m and seeks to develop small-molecule drugs targeting an RNA splicing defect called exon skipping. (Also see "Finance Watch: Another Mega-Round As Moderna Bucks Biopharma's IPO Trend" - Scrip, 5 Feb, 2018.)

Exon skipping happens when key protein-encoding parts of RNA are left out of a cell during splicing, causing disease. The company’s STAR* (Small molecule Therapies for Alternative splicing in RNA) platform is being designed to develop candidates that can correct RNA mutations that cause diseases, including cancer and neurological conditions. Concurrent with the Series A, Skyhawk announced a partnership with Celgene through which the big biotech paid $60m up front for exclusive options to neurology drug candidates discovered using the STAR* technology. Skyhawk could see additional money through that deal in the form of further license and milestone fees as well as royalties. (Also see "Deal Watch: Amazon Moves Into Rx Services With Acquisition Of PillPack " - Scrip, 2 Jul, 2018.)

SutroVax Closes $85m Series C Round

The infectious disease vaccine developer SutroVax Inc. raised $85m in an upsized Series C financing led by first-time backer TPG Growth, which adds a board member and was joined by other new investors Medicxi (adds a board observer) and Foresite Capital. Returning shareholders Abingworth, Longitude Capital, Frazier Healthcare Partners, Pivotal bioVenture Partners, Roche Venture Fund and CTI Life Sciences Fund. The company will use the proceeds to move its broad-spectrum pneumococcal conjugate vaccine candidate through mid-clinical development and to expand its vaccine pipeline. (Also see "Finance Watch: Pfizer Ventures' Dalton Makes Sense Of Neuroscience Focus Within New $600m VC Fund Commitment" - Scrip, 12 Jun, 2018.)

Zurex Raises $9m In Fourth Financing

Zurex Pharma Inc., which is developing antimicrobials aimed at health care-associated infections, raised $9m in what appears to be its Series D financing. According to a Form D filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the company raised $3m in equity from 11 investors. Square 1 Bank contributed the remaining $6m in debt.

Zurex will use the proceeds to support a new drug application (NDA) submission to the US FDA for approval of its ZurexPrep pre-surgical skin preparation product, in addition to ongoing pipeline development.The company raised a Series C round in 2016. (Also see "Venture Funding Deals, July – August 2016" - Scrip, 8 Sep, 2016.)

From the Editors of Start-Up