Finance Watch: Rakuten Aspyrian Raises $150m VC Round For Laser-Activated Cancer Drugs

Private investors, including Japanese e-commerce mogul Hiroshi Mikitani, backed a $150m Series C round for Rakuten Aspyrian and its photoimmunotherapy platform. Also, pharma-backed therapeutic video game developer Akili boosts Series C to $68m, and Summit garners additional BARDA funding.

Rakuten Aspyrian Inc. has raised $150m in Series C venture capital to fund a Phase III clinical trial that it intends to start before the end of this year to test its laser-activated antibody conjugate in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas, and to initiate two to three additional studies for ASP-1929.

The San Diego-based firm has raised $238m to date with the enthusiastic backing of billionaire businessman Hiroshi Mikitani, who founded...