US-based nanopharmacuetical company Cerulean Pharma closed its series D round on Thursday, having raised $15m from investors including Lilly Ventures, the corporate venturing fund operated by pharmaceutical conglomerate Eli Lilly.
Also investing in the round were CVF, an affiliate of investment firm Henry Crown & Company, and Ceruleans existing investors: venture capital firms Polaris Venture Partners, Venrock, Lux Capital and Bessemer Venture Partners, and real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities.
Cerulean, which has now raised $73m in funding since its inception in 2006, is planning to use the equity raised to complete Phase 2 clinical trials of its nanotechnology-based treatment for cancer. Cerulean is also looking to expand into other areas of molecular therapeutics.
In conjunction with the investment, Robert Paull, managing partner at Lux Capital, is joining Cerulean’s board of directors, doing so as the director designated jointly by Lux Capital and CVF.