Canada-based biotherapeutics developer Zymeworks closed $61.5m in series A mezzanine financing on Friday from investors including pharmaceutical companies Eli Lilly and Company, Celgene and Brace Pharma.
BDC Capital and Lumira Capital co-led the round, which included CTI Life Sciences Fund, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Perceptive Advisors, Teralys Capital, Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund and Merlin Nexus. Brace invested through its Brace Pharma Capital unit.
Zymeworks is developing bispecific antibodies and antibody drug conjugates to treat cancer, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
The funding will support the entry of its lead product candidates, ZW25 and ZW33, into clinical development later this year. Both are being developed to treat breast cancer.
Zymeworks had previously raised more than $72m in equity funding, according to regulatory filings, and Eli Lilly, Celgene, CTI Life Sciences and Fonds de solidarité FTQ all participated in the latest round as existing investors.
Eli Lilly provided an undisclosed amount of equity funding for Zymeworks in late 2014 alongside a $375m licensing and collaboration expansion, while Celgene invested an undisclosed sum in January 2015 as part of a collaboration and licensing agreement.
Ali Tehrani, chief executive of Zymeworks, said on Friday: “This financing provides Zymeworks the capital and resources to move multiple potentially game changing therapeutic candidates not only into the clinic, but through to meaningful clinical inflection points.
“Furthermore, this financing adds the experience of seasoned US and Canadian biotech investors, and demonstrates the support of our existing strategic and institutional investor base as we look forward to the next stage in our growth and evolution as a leader in the field of bispecific and multivalent antibody therapeutics.”
MTS Securities and BMO Capital Markets Corp advised Zymeworks in the transaction.