Kallyope, a US-based developer of drugs for conditions related to the gut and brain, raised $112m yesterday in a series C round featuring Illumina Ventures, the investment arm of genomics technology producer Illumina.
Alexandria Venture Investments, the venture capital unit of real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities, also contributed to the round.
The company’s other existing backers, including Column Group, Lux Capital, Polaris Partners, Euclidean Capital, Two Sigma Ventures and philanthropist Bill Gates also took part, as did Casdin Capital, Greenspring Associates and two unnamed institutional investors.
Spun out of Columbia University in 2015, Kallyope is working on treatments targeting conditions linked to the communication between the gut and the brain, such as gastrointestinal, inflammatory and central nervous system disorders.
Kallyope’s approach relies on a combination of sequencing, bioinformatics, neural imaging, genetics and cellular and molecular biology. It was co-founded by Columbia faculty members Charles Zuker, Tom Maniatis and Richard Axel.
The funding will enable Kallyope to advance its drug pipeline as it prepares to initiate clinical trials for its lead asset, an oral treatment to induce a feeling of satiety for weight loss, later this year.
The company also expects to enter a potential treatment for inflammatory bowel disease and a range of other conditions into the clinic soon after its lead asset.
The latest round follows a series B round closed at $87m in December 2018 featuring Illumina Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, Bill Gates, Lux Capital, Column Group, Polaris Partners, Euclidean Capital and Two Sigma Ventures.
Kallyope had previously picked up $44m in series A capital from Illumina Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, Lux Capital, Polaris Partners, Column Group and Tony Evnin, a partner at venture capital firm Venrock, in 2015.
