SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Taiho Ventures, LLC today announced its investment in Arcus Biosciences, Inc. of Hayward, California. Arcus raised an additional $70 million in equity capital from Taiho Ventures, GV, Invus, DROIA Oncology Ventures and Stanford University, together with its Series A investors, including The Column Group, Foresite Capital, Novartis and Celgene. This funding allows Arcus to continue its rapid drug development activities for the company’s small molecule and antibody immuno-oncology approaches with the goal of building its own internal combinations.
“Taiho Ventures is pleased to support the Arcus team and its promising drug pipeline programs,” said Nobuyuki Hashimoto, Executive Director, Board Member and Global Chief Corporate Officer at Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Investment Committee member at Taiho Ventures. “Terry Rosen, Chief Executive Officer, and Juan Jaen, President, are among the leaders in the oncology drug discovery field with over 20 years of experience, and have built an innovative immuno-oncology program at Flexus, leading to the significant acquisition transaction with Bristol-Myers Squibb in a short period of time. Together, they have many years of industry experience as successful entrepreneurs and are invaluable as they take Arcus to the next level with this significant round of financing.”
“The addition of Taiho Ventures to this round of investment will augment the financial and business resources available to Arcus to help build a successful company in the immuno-oncology space, in particular, looking at the Japan and Asian market,” said Dr. Rosen. “They have significant experience in the industry and will provide guidance in the company’s Japan/Asian strategic direction.”
Arcus Biosciences, Inc. is an innovative immuno-oncology company that is developing both small molecules and antibodies, enabling the combinations of agents from internal programs. The company has selected its first three targets for small molecules along the ATP-adenosine pathway; CD73, CD39 and the A2A receptor and set the goals to take some of those programs into the clinic in 2017. For more information about Arcus Biosciences, please visit http://www.arcusbio.com/.
About Taiho Ventures, LLC
Taiho Ventures, LLC is the strategic corporate venture capital arm of Taiho Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., a Japanese specialty pharma focusing on oncology, allergy and immunology, and urology. Taiho Ventures is a newly-established strategic investor looking at early stage preclinical oncology companies as well as platform technology companies for our core therapeutic areas. Taiho Ventures will review the wide variety of modalities for both biologics and small molecules mainly in US and European countries. The company will also consider the option-type of investments and spin-outs, in addition to the pure equity investments.
About Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Japan)
Taiho Pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of Otsuka Holdings Co., Ltd., is an R&D-driven specialty pharma focusing on the three fields of oncology, allergies and immunology, and urology. Its corporate philosophy takes the form of a pledge: “We strive to improve human health and contribute to a society enriched by smiles.” In the field of oncology in particular, Taiho Pharmaceutical is known as a leading company in Japan for developing innovative medicines for the treatment of cancer, a reputation that is rapidly expanding through their extensive global R&D efforts and more recently the establishment of commercial operations in the US and parts of Asia. In areas other than oncology, as well, the company creates quality products that effectively treat medical conditions. Always putting customers first, Taiho Pharmaceutical also aims to offer over-the-counter medicinal products that support people’s efforts to lead fulfilling and rewarding lives.
For more information about Taiho Pharmaceutical, please visit http://www.taiho.co.jp/english/.
Media/Investor Contact:
Sakae Asanuma
Email: sasanuma@taihoventures.com
Phone: 408-573-6721
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SOURCE Taiho Ventures, LLC
