Anaptys Biosciences, Inc. Raises Over $33 Million in Series B Financing New Capital
LA JOLLA, Calif., Nov. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Anaptys Biosciences, Inc., a privately-held therapeutic antibody product company, today announced that it has raised $33.9 million in a Series B equity financing led by Novo A/S. Additional investors participating significantly in the round were Frazier Healthcare Ventures and Alloy Ventures, along with founding investor Avalon Ventures. Completing the syndicate were Numenor Ventures, WS Investment Company, and Anaptys board member, Dr. Nick Lydon.
The new investment capital will support continued advancement of the company's novel technology for therapeutic antibody discovery and optimization, and building a pipeline of product candidates.
"We are pleased to have attracted such a strong investor group to support the company's multiple development programs," said Tom Smart, chairman and chief executive officer of Anaptys. "In addition to providing significant financial resources, these experienced investors bring Anaptys a wealth of operational, medical, and industry expertise along with key relationships that will serve the company well during this important stage of growth and achievement."
In connection with the financing, Heath Lukatch, Ph.D., of Novo A/S, James N. Topper, M.D., Ph.D., of Frazier Healthcare Ventures, and J. Leighton Read, M.D., of Alloy Ventures will join the Anaptys Board of Directors together with existing members Kevin J Kinsella of Avalon Ventures, Nick Lydon, Ph.D., of Granite Biopharma, LLC, R. Scott Greer of Numenor Ventures, and Anaptys executives William Boyle, Ph.D., and Tom Smart.
"It is a great pleasure for Novo A/S to lead this investment in Anaptys," said Dr. Lukatch. "The company has developed powerful technologies to quickly and cost effectively optimize antibodies against a variety of high value targets. By harnessing the efficiency of somatic hypermutation for antibody evolution and optimization, Anaptys' innovative Omnitope-SHM(TM) System has the potential to usher in a new generation of best-in-class therapeutic antibodies."
About Anaptys Biosciences, Inc.
Anaptys is a privately-held developer of therapeutic antibody products and the leader in the use of SHM for antibody discovery and optimization. SHM, or somatic hypermutation, is the body's natural process for generating antibody diversity to fight disease. The company's Omnitope-SHM(TM) System utilizes the key components of SHM to enable the rapid generation and selection of antibodies for therapeutic applications. The versatile platform can be applied to the de novo discovery and optimization of antibodies directed to a chosen disease target, as well as affinity mature an existing antibody to improve its binding potency. Anaptys is using the platform to build a pipeline of product candidates with significant medical and commercial potential. For more information, visit the company's web site at http://www.anaptysbio.com.
About Novo A/S
Novo A/S is the holding company of the Novo Group, and is wholly owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. Novo A/S was established in 1999 to manage the assets of the Foundation and actively make investments on behalf of the Foundation. Novo Ventures is recognized as a significant force within life science venture capital and is active in both Europe and North America. The Novo Ventures team consists of six Partners in Copenhagen, one in London, and two in San Francisco.
With an evergreen structure, Novo A/S annually invests approximately $90 million in venture capital into private life sciences companies and acts at a pace comparable to a traditional $400 million fund. Novo A/S is not a corporate strategic fund; the group invests for financial rather than strategic returns. In total, Novo A/S has more than $10 billion under management, which includes significant shareholdings in the independently operating and publicly listed companies Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S. For more information, visit http://www.novo.dk.
CONTACT: Bob Giargiari of GPR Global, +1-619-884-4410, for Anaptys
Biosciences, Inc.
Web site: http://www.anaptysbio.com/
http://www.novo.dk/