Aduro Biotech, a US-based developer of treatments for pancreatic cancer backed by pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, closed a $51.4m series D round yesterday.
Participants in the round included OrbiMed, Janus Capital Management, Jennison Associates, Foresite Capital Management, and funds managed by Franklin Advisers and Clough Capital Partners. Undisclosed existing investors including investment firm Morningside Group, as well as several undisclosed new investors, also participated.
Aduro previously raised $55m in a June 2014 series C round backed by Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, which acts as Johnson & Johnson’s corporate venturing arm, and Morningside.
The company has raised approimately $106.4m since the start of 2014, and almost $160m in total since it was founded in 2000, according to regulatory filings.
Aduro will use the fresh funding to advance its pipeline of drug candidates, including GVAX Pancreas, a vaccine that is currently undergoing a Phase 2b clinical trial in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.