Viamet Pharmaceuticals, a US-based drugs company formerly known as Hephistics, has raised $25m from seven investors, according to a regulatory filing.
Lilly Ventures and Novartis Option fund, the two corporate venturing units of Eli Lilly and Novartis respectively, have board members at Viamet (Edward Torres and Lauren Silverman, respectively).
In February last year, Novartis licensed Viamet’s proprietary Metallophile Technology for an upfront fee and potential milestones totaling more than $200m as well as product royalties.
Silverman, managing director of Novartis Option Fund, at the time said: "Viamet’s Metallophile Technology is a powerful platform that enables the rapid and cost-effective generation of best-in-class metalloenzyme inhibitors. Metalloenzymes are a large class of enzymes, many of which are closely related, and finding inhibitors that are potent yet selective for a specific metalloenzyme can be very challenging."
The company’s other investors that are named in the filing are venture capital firms Intersouth Partners, Hatteras Ventures and Lurie Investment Fund, according to news provider CityBizList that first noticed the filing.
Viamet raised $18m in its series B round in July 2009, led by Novartis Option Fund and Lilly Ventures and also included Intersouth, Hatteras, Lurie, and Astellas Venture Management, the corporate venturing unit of Japanese drugs company Astellas. Viamet’s series A round raised $4m two years earlier.