Beyond Tenaya: Other Recent Venture Capital Financings
Company	Investors	Use Of Proceeds
Clover Biopharmaceuticals; Chengdu, China	Clover said on 22 February that it raised $230m in a series C round co-led by GL Ventures and Temasek with participation from Oceanpine Capital, OrbiMed and existing investor Delos Capital. The company has raised more than $400m during the past 12 months, including a $43m series B round in November. (Also see "Finance Watch: Omega, Perceptive/Xontogeny Raise $648m For Life Science Investments" - Scrip, 12 December, 2019.)	The proceeds will fund continued development and expansion of Clover’s pipeline of protein-based vaccines and cancer biologics using the company’s Trimer-Tag technology for production of novel, covalently-trimerized fusion proteins. Clover plans to initiate a global Phase II/III clinical trial for its COVID-19 vaccine SCB-2019 during the first half of 2021. Other Clover programs include vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, rabies and influenza as well as a Phase I fusion protein for intracavitary malignancies in multiple ongoing Phase I clinical trials.
Century Therapeutics; Philadelphia	Casdin Capital led a $160m series C round that Century announced on 3 March with backing from new investors, including Fidelity Investments, Federated Hermes, RA Capital, Logos Capital, OrbiMed, Marshall Wace, Qatar Investment Authority, Avidity Partners and Octagon Capital. Versant Ventures and Leaps by Bayer, who launched the company in 2019 with $250m in initial funding, also participated. (Also see "Versant's Century Aims For Off-The-Shelf Cancer Cell Therapies" - Scrip, 1 July, 2019.)	Century is developing induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived cell therapies to treat cancer. The company plans to use the series C proceeds to take its allogeneic cell therapies – off-the-shelf treatment made with donor cells – into clinical trials starting in 2022. Century has multiple preclinical iPSC-derived chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell (CAR-iT) and CAR natural killer (CAR-iNK) therapies, which are designed to resist host rejection, enhance cell persistence and allow repeat dosing to provide durable responses to treatment.
ATAI Life Sciences AG; New York	The company said on 3 March that it raised $157m in series D cash, close to three months after closing a $125m series C round. Existing investors Apeiron Investment Group, the family office of ATAI's founder Christian Angermayer and Thiel Capital led the series D, which was joined by Woodline Partners LP. Additional existing and new investors also participated, including Fearless Ventures, Falcon Edge Capital, Pura Vida Pro LLC, Catalio Capital Management, Michael Auerbach's Subversive Capital and Highline Capital.	ATAI said it will use the new venture cash to expand and develop its pipeline of mental health drug candidates and its enabling technologies. The money also supports hiring to expand its team. ATAI’s pipeline includes psychedelic programs, such as a psilocybin-derived drug and one based on the hallucinogenic compound in ayahuasca, with several drug candidates expected to enter Phase I and II trials in 2021. (Also see "ATAI Raises $125m Series C To Expand The Boundaries In Mental Health" - Scrip, 24 November, 2020.)
Vividion Therapeutics, Inc.; San Diego	Vividion said on 24 February that it closed a $135m series C round co-led by new investors Logos Capital and Boxer Capital of Tavistock Group with participation from additional new investors SoftBank Investment Advisers, Avoro Capital Advisors, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, RA Capital Management, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates Inc., Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company), Woodline Partners LP, Acuta Capital and Driehaus Capital Management, alongside existing investors ARCH Venture Partners, BVF Partners LP, Casdin Capital, Mubadala Capital, Nextech Invest and Versant Ventures.	The company, which closed a series B round in 2019, is using its platform for discovering novel small molecules against previously undruggable targets to develop a pipeline of oncology and immunology programs. (Also see "Venture Funding Deals: CNS Plays Are Attracting Investment " - Scrip, 13 May, 2019.) Vividion plans to begin its first clinical trials in 2022. Its pipeline includes drugs targeting the KEAP1-NRF2 axis, including antagonists for the treatment of NRF2 mutant and NRF2 addicted cancers, and agonists to treat inflammatory diseases. In partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb, the company is advancing a program against an unspecified transcription factor for oncology and immunology indications. Vividion partnered with Roche Holding AG in May to develop protein degraders. (Also see "Deal Watch: Roche And Vividion Will Investigate E3 Ligases In Cancer, Immunology" - Scrip, 21 May, 2020.)
YishengBio Co., Ltd.; Beijing	The commercial-stage company said on 24 February that it closed a $130m series B round co-led by Oceanpine and OrbiMed. YishengBio's institutional investors now also include EightRoad, F-Prime Capital, 3W Capital, Hillhouse Capital, Adjuvant Capital, MSA Capital, AIHC, Epiphron Capital, Superstring Capital, Haitong International and others.	YishengBio uses its PIKA technology platform to develop biotherapeutics for cancer and infectious diseases, including the YSJA rabies vaccine approved in China. The vaccine will be tested in a global Phase III trial to enable commercialization in additional markets. Other clinical-stage programs include YS-ON-001 for the treatment of advanced solid tumors, YS-HBV-001 for hepatitis B virus and PIKA YS-SC2-010, a prophylactic and therapeutic vaccine candidate against COVID-19. YishengBio and Tavotek Biotherapeutics entered into an oncology drug development agreement early last year. (Also see "Asia Deal Watch: BeiGene Leaps Into New Year By Licensing DKK1 Antibody Candidate" - Scrip, 10 January, 2020.)
eGenesis; Cambridge, MA	The company said on 2 March that it closed a $125m series C round with the backing of Farallon Capital Management, Polaris Partners, HBM Healthcare Investments, Invus, Samsara BioCapital, LifeSci Venture Partners, Irving Investors, Catalio Capital Management, SymBiosis, Altium Capital, Monashee Investment Management and Osage University Partners. Prior investors participating in this round include Leaps by Bayer, Fresenius Medical Care Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners, Wellington Partners, Khosla Ventures and Alta Partners.	EGenesis is using gene-editing and genome-engineering technologies to develop human-compatible organs, tissues and cells. The company plans to take its kidney and islet cell programs into human proof-of-concept trials with its new financing; it will also scale up manufacturing. In prior funding rounds, eGenesis raised $38m in series A financing in 2017 and a $100m series B round in 2019. (Also see "Venture Funding Deals: Sumitomo Alliance With Roivant Takes Shape" - Scrip, 9 December, 2019.)
Cellarity; Cambridge, MA	The Flagship Pioneering-founded company said on 25 February that it raised $123m in series B funding from funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, The Baupost Group, Banque Pictet on behalf of their clients and eight other investors alongside Flagship.	Cellarity is developing drugs that target diseases at the cellular level as opposed to a single molecular target. The company has seven drug discovery programs under way across a wide range of diseases, including metabolic disease and cancer. Cellarity said in late 2019 that it had raised $50m from Flagship to date. (Also see "Finance Watch: Omega, Perceptive/Xontogeny Raise $648m For Life Science Investments" - Scrip, 12 December, 2019.)
Artiva Biotherapeutics, Inc.; San Diego	Artiva raised a $120m series B round led by new investor Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners with participation from additional new investors Acuta Capital Partners, Cormorant Asset Management, EcoR1 Capital, Franklin Templeton, Janus Henderson Investors, Logos Capital, RTW Investments LP, Surveyor Capital (a Citadel Company), Wellington Management Company and an undisclosed global investment firm. Existing investors also participated: 5AM Ventures, RA Capital Management and venBio Partners, along with strategic partners GC LabCell (Green Cross Lab Cell Corp.) and GC (Green Cross Holdings Corp.). The company recently earned $30m up front under a collaboration with Merck & Co., Inc. (Also see "Merck & Co. Looks To Artiva’s Off-The-Shelf Cell Therapy Technologies" - Scrip, 28 January, 2021.)	The company is developing allogeneic natural killer (NK) cell-based therapies for cancer with a platform that incorporates cell expansion, activation and engineering technology developed by GC LabCell. Artiva will use the funding to advance and expand its NK cell therapy programs, which include AB-101, an ADCC enhancer NK-cell therapy for use in combination with monoclonal antibodies or innate-cell engagers that is being evaluated in a Phase I/II clinical trial in combination with rituximab for relapsed or refractory B-cell lymphomas. The company plans to begin trials in 2022 for AB-201, a novel HER2-specific CAR-NK cell therapy for HER2+ solid tumors, and AB-202, a CD19-specific CAR-NK cell therapy for B-cell malignancies, both of which are being developed with GC LabCell. (Also see "GC LabCell Taps Alliances In Bid For Lead NK Cell Position" - Scrip, 8 January, 2021.)
Caribou Biosciences, Inc.; Berkeley, CA	Caribou said on 3 March that it completed a $115m series C round co-led by new investors Farallon Capital Management, PFM Health Sciences and Ridgeback Capital Investments. Additional new investors also participated, including AbbVie Ventures, Adage Capital Partners LP, Avego Bioscience Capital, Avidity Partners, Invus, Janus Henderson Investors, LifeSci Venture Partners, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Therapy Acceleration Program, Monashee Investment Management LLC, Point72 and funds managed by Tekla Capital Management LLC. Existing investors, including Heritage Medical Systems, Maverick Ventures and Pontifax Global Food and Agriculture Technology Fund (Pontifax AgTech).	It has been nearly five years since Caribou, founded by Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna, closed its $30m series B round. (Also see "VC Roundup: Caribou Completes $30m Non-IPO CRISPR Financing; $205m In Cash For Five Others" - Scrip, 16 May, 2016.) However, the CRISPR genome editing specialist also has funded its operations through fees from partners, such as AbbVie Inc., which paid $40m up front in February with a commitment to spend up to $300m on milestone fees for the development of novel CAR-T therapies against undisclosed targets. (Also see "Deal Watch: BMS Looks To Molecular Templates’ Engineered Toxin Bodies In Cancer" - Scrip, 15 February, 2021.) Caribou will use the series C proceeds to advance allogeneic CAR-T and CAR-NK candidates for cancer, including the CD19-targeting CB-010 for lymphoma, CB-011 targeting BCMA in multiple myeloma and CB-012 targeting CD371 in leukemia. The company is developing allogeneic iPSC-derived CAR-NK therapies to treat solid tumors.
FogPharma; Cambridge, MA	FogPharma said on 1 March that it closed a $107m series C round led by venBio Partners with participation from new investors Cormorant Asset Management, Farallon Capital Management, Invus, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates Inc., HBM Healthcare Investments, Casdin Capital and PagsGroup. Existing investors, including GV, 6 Dimensions Capital, Deerfield Management and Blue Pool Capital also participated.	The company raised a $66m series B round in 2018 and now plans to use its series C funding to take its first two drugs into clinical development. (Also see "Finance Watch: Early-Stage Firms Gain Deal-Making Insight As Golumbeski Joins VC Ranks" - Scrip, 22 May, 2018.) FogPharma is developing a novel class of therapeutics calls Helicon peptides, which combine cell-permeability and oral dosing of small molecules with the specificity, broad target accessibility and rapid discovery arc of monoclonal antibodies. Lead candidates targeting beta-catenin and TEAD are being developed for the treatment of various cancers.
DTx Pharma; San Diego	RA Capital Management led a $100m series B round that DTx announced on 1 March. New investors Access Biotechnology, Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company), Cormorant Asset Management, Janus Henderson Investors and Logos Capital participated in the round with existing investors, including Friedman Bioventure Fund, Eli Lilly and Company, Viva BioInnovator and ExSight Ventures.	The company is developing novel RNA-based therapeutics with its FALCON technology platform that uses fatty acids as targeting ligands to enable delivery of oligonucleotides to tissues and cells throughout the body. DTx plans to take multiple programs into the clinic across several therapeutic areas over the next few years, including ocular, neuromuscular and central nervous system diseases.
Xilio Therapeutics, Inc.; Waltham, MA	Xilio announced on 24 February that it closed a $95m series B round. Rock Springs Capital led the series B with participation from new investors Bain Capital Life Sciences, Deerfield Management Company, RA Capital Management and others. Existing investors also joined the round, including Atlas Venture, SV Health Investors, Takeda Ventures, RiverVest Venture Partners and MRL Ventures Fund.	The company is developing tumor-selective immunotherapies and will use its new funding to take its lead therapeutic candidates into clinical trials. It plans to file investigational new drug (IND) applications with the US Food and Drug Administration in 2021 for the tumor-selective IL-2 therapy XTX202 and the tumor-selective anti-CTLA-4 antibody XTX101. Xilio also has a tumor-selective IL-12 in preclinical development. The company, previously known as Akrevia Therapeutics, closed a $100.5m series A round about a year ago. (Also see "Finance Watch: Multiple VC Mega-Rounds Fund T-Cell, Hearing, IO, Fibrosis Therapies" - Scrip, 7 March, 2020.)
Orna Therapeutics, Inc.; Cambridge, MA	Orna launched on 24 February with $80m in series A funding, bringing its cash total to date to $100m. The company was built by MPM Capital based on research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. MPM co-led the series A round with Taiho Ventures and F2 Ventures with participation from strategic and other investors, including Gilead Sciences, Inc.’s Kite Pharma, Inc., Bristol Myers Squibb, Astellas Venture Management, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research Inc. and PagsGroup.	The company is developing circular RNA (oRNA) therapeutics to treat a range of conditions, including cancer, autoimmune diseases and genetic disorders. Orna’s oRNA therapies are designed to have several advantages over prior RNA therapies, including superior protein expression, simpler and more cost-effective manufacturing, and improved delivery. The company believes oRNAs may be able to address limitations of other types of medicines, for instance by delivering CARs directly to T-cells. Orna will use its series A financing to advance lead programs through IND enablement and expand its R&D pipeline.
Carisma Therapeutics Inc.; Philadelphia	The company said earlier this year that it closed a $47m series B round but revealed on 1 March that the financing has grown to $59m, bringing its total fundraising to date to $121m, including a $53m series A round in 2018. (Also see "Finance Watch: Scorpion Closes $162m Series B, Bringing Recent Total To $270m" - Scrip, 8 January, 2021.) Founding investors IP Group Inc. and Penn Medicine provided the additional series B cash along with new investor 4BIO Capital.	Carisma is developing cell therapies with a technology platform focused on engineered macrophages. The company’s HER2-targeting CAR-macrophage candidate CT-0508 is being tested in a Phase I clinical trial. The new funding will allow Carisma to also explore the treatment of diseases beyond cancer with its engineered macrophages.
Janux Therapeutics; San Diego	Janux said on 3 March that it closed a $56m series A round led by Avalon Ventures with the backing of new investors OrbiMed and RA Capital Management with existing investors Bregua and Correlation Ventures.	The company is using its Tumor Activated T-Cell Engager (TRACTr) technology platform to develop immunotherapies for the treatment of solid tumors with reduced toxicity as well as high potency, efficacy and specificity relative to other T-cell engaging therapies. It partnered with Merck & Co. in December in a deal worth up to $500.5m in upfront and milestones fees per target plus royalties and R&D funding. (Also see "Deal Watch: GSK Makes $85m Wager On Surface’s Preclinical NK Cell Therapy" - Scrip, 21 December, 2020.) Janux’s lead programs are a TROP2-TRACTr and PSMA-TRACTr with plans to take a program into the clinic during the first half of 2022.
Suzhou Medilink Therapeutics Ltd.; Suzhou, China	Medilink revealed a $50m series A financing on 1 March, including a series A-1 round led by Apricot Capital and a series A-2 round led by Loyal Valley Capital and Qiming Venture Partners.	The company has a technology platform for the development of next-generation antibody-drug conjugates and will use its initial venture cash to build a pipeline of ADC candidates to treat various cancers. Medilink will seek partners for markets outside of China.
Cullgen Inc.; San Diego and Shanghai	The company said on 25 February that it closed a $50m series B round backed by existing Cullgen investors and five new venture capital firms, including lead investor 3E Bioventures Capital along with Heights Capital Management (an affiliate of Susquehanna International Group), Octagon Capital, MSA Capital and South China Venture Capital.	Cullgen raised $15m in seed financing in 2018 and a $16m series A round in 2019. (Also see "Finance Watch: Hatteras Nearly Halfway To $200m Goal For New Early-Stage VC Fund" - Scrip, 19 April, 2019.) The company is using its uSMITE platform to develop small molecule protein degraders for cancer and other diseases. Cullgen plans to file an IND application later this year for lead program CG001419, a TRK protein degrader for cancer and other indications. The company also will use its funding to discover and optimize novel E3 ligands.
Oxular Limited; Oxford, UK	Forbion led a $37m financing that Oxular announced on 1 March and which was joined by existing investors IP Group, NeoMed and V-Bio Ventures.	The company is developing treatments for retinal diseases, including lead candidate OXU-001, a sustained-release formulation of dexamethasone that Oxular will take into Phase II for diabetic macular edema (DME). (Also see "Oxular Sets Out Eye Disease Plans Armed With $37m" - Scrip, 2 March, 2021.)
Teon Therapeutics, Inc.; San Francisco	Teon said on 23 February that it completed a $30m series A round led by Oceanpine Capital with participation from additional new investors Oriza Ventures, Lifespan Investments, and former Gilead senior executives. All existing investors also participated in the financing round including Northern Light Venture Capital, Kaitai Capital and Oriental Fortune Capital. Northern Light led the company's $7m seed round.	The company is developing small molecules that inhibit immunosuppressive and cancer-promoting signaling pathways in the tumor microenvironment. The series A proceeds will allow Teon to take its lead A2BR-selective antagonist TT-702 into the clinic and further build its pipeline. The company’s leadership were primary inventors of Lexiscan (regadenoson), the only FDA-approved selective adenosine therapeutic, developed by CV Therapeutics, Inc., which Gilead bought for $1.4bn in 2009. (Also see "Gilead outbids Astellas for CV Therapeutics" - Scrip, 12 March, 2009.)
Bionaut Labs; Los Angeles	The company launched on 3 March with $20m in financing from lead investor Khosla Ventures, which was joined by Upfront Ventures, Revolution, BOLD Capital and Compound.	Bionaut Labs is developing precision therapies that use remote-controlled microscale robots to deliver biologics, nucleic acids or small molecules locally to targeted areas of the brain. The company will use its initial funding to take its lead program for glioma through preclinical development and advance another program in Huntington’s disease.
SalioGen Therapeutics; Burlington, MA	PBM Capital led a $20m series A round that SalioGen announced on 1 March with participation from other undisclosed investors.	The company is using its Exact DNA Integration Technology (EDIT) to develop non-viral gene therapies that instead use a mammal-derived, genome-engineering enzyme to deliver treatments for genetic diseases that it believes will be safe, long-lasting and less costly than other gene therapies. SalioGen’s initial financing will be used for preclinical validation of its EDIT platform, including for its lead programs in familial hypercholesterolemia and inherited macular degeneration.
Artizan Biosciences, Inc.; New Haven, CT	Artizan said on 1 March that it raised $11m in a series A-2 financing led by existing investor Hatteras Venture Partners and new investor Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd. New investor CT Innovations and prior backers Elm Street Ventures and Osage University Partners also participated. Artizan raised a $12m series A round in mid-2019. ([SC125396])	The company is developing treatments for inflammatory diseases involving the human intestinal microbiota. Artizan will use its new cash to continue advancing its lead program in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with plans to enter the clinic in 2022 and to explore other disease targets. The company said it also entered into an agreement with Biohaven for the development and commercialization in the US of up to three IBD therapies. The partners are finalizing an agreement related to treatment of neurological diseases. Artizan entered into an agreement with Brii Biosciences in 2019 to develop up to two therapeutic candidates for China. (Also see "Multiple Alliances Expand Brii’s Commitment To Anti-Infectives" - Scrip, 22 November, 2019.)
AmacaThera Inc.; Toronto	The Canadian firm AmacaThera said on 22 February that it closed a C$10.3m ($8.1m) led by Lumira Ventures with participation from existing investors Viva BioInnovator and Sprout BioVentures plus new investors BDC Capital Women In Technology Venture Fund, Inveready, MBX Capital, CR Capital Management, StandUp Ventures and MaRS IAF.	The company’s proprietary hydrogels enable local, sustained release of small-molecule drugs, biotherapeutics and cells, including lead product AMT-143, a single injection given during surgery to treat post-surgical pain with the goal or reducing and preventing the need for opioid-based pain relievers. AmacaThera will use its new funding to continue clinical development of AMT-143 and expand its pipeline.
Jaguar Gene Therapy; Lake Forest, IL	Jaguar came out of stealth mode on 25 February with undisclosed series A financing from Deerfield Management. The company’s CEO Joe Nolan, president of R&D Sukumar Nagendran, chief operating officer Andrew Knudten, chief financial officer Phil Donenberg and chief legal officer Michael Johannesen all previously held leadership positions at AveXis, Inc., the gene therapy company Novartis bought in 2018 for $8.7bn. (Also see "Novartis Goes Big On Gene Therapy With $8.7bn AveXis Acquisition" - Scrip, 9 April, 2018.)	The company is developing AAV9-based gene therapies and will use its initial financing to advance its preclinical programs, including JAG101 for galactosemia, JAG201 for a specific genetic cause of autism spectrum disorder, JAG301 for type 1 diabetes and AXV101 for Bardet-Biedl syndrome. In addition to funding, Deerfield will provide Jaguar with access to its network of 18 academic institutions, which may have gene therapy candidates in development. AXV101 is being developed by Axovia Therapeutics, a majority owned subsidiary of Jaguar.

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