AbSci, a US-based synthetic biology technology developer backed by corporates Merck & Co, AGC Asahi Glass and JSR Life Sciences, raised $125m in crossover financing on Tuesday.
Casdin Capital and Redmile Group co-led the round investing alongside financial services and investment group Fidelity, D1 Capital Partners, Perceptive Advisors, aMoon Edge, Irving Investors and existing backers including ArrowMark Partners.
Founded in 2011, AbSci provides drug discovery and cell line development services for biopharmaceutical companies. Its technology platforms can produce proteins and cell cultures used in the development of drug treatments.
The proceeds of the round will go toward AbSci’s strategic investments and research and development activities. It also plans to focus on training the artificial intelligence technology platform it secured when it acquired its developer, Denovium Engine, in January this year.
Pharmaceutical firm Merck & Co tapped its Global Health Innovation Fund to invest an undisclosed amount in AbSci last month. It had received $65m in a series E round in October 2020 that was led by Casdin Capital and backed by Redmile Group, ArrowMark Partners and Phoenix Venture Partners.
Chemical and life science conglomerate JSR Life Sciences and its KBI Biopharma subsidiary co-led a $10.4m series D round for the company in January 2020 that also featured WRF Capital, Phoenix Venture Partners, Oregon Venture Fund and Columbia Ventures Corporation.
AbSci collected $12m in its 2018 series C round, which was led by glass producer AGC Asahi Glass and which included WRF Capital, Phoenix Venture Partners, Oregon Venture Fund, Souther, Columbia Ventures and GreenBridge.
Phoenix Venture Partners had previously participated in the close of a series B round of undisclosed size for the company in 2017, after leading its $5.1m series A round the year before.