Cambridge biotech Cerulean Pharma Inc., which is developing treatments for cancerous tumors, has received a $13 million extension on a Series D round of investment it got a year ago while it waits for the results of a Phase 2b trial of its lead drug candidate. Christopher Guiffre, senior vice president and chief business officer of Cerulean, told Mass High Tech that the round comes from existing investors, which includes Polaris Venture Partners, Venrock, Lilly Ventures, Lux Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, and CVF LLC. According to a federal filing late Friday, the round comes from a total of 16 investors, with related persons including most of the company’s management team and board of directors. The company has now filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for $81 million in debt and equity financing since 2007. Guiffre said that the $15 million Series D round the company received a year ago was meant to last until the end of a Phase 2b trial of CRLX101 testing its effect on the overall survival of non-small cell lung cancer patients. The company has said that it won’t compile data on the trial until at least 94 of the 157 patients enrolled have died; so far, only 88 have died, according to Guiffre. He said the company believes it’s worth waiting for overall survival data as opposed to measuring potential tumor reduction or progression-free survival, other common measures in trials of drug candidates against non-small cell lung cancer.
