Hookipa Pharma, an Austria-based immunotherapy developer that counts pharmaceutical companies Gilead Sciences, Boehringer Ingelheim and Takeda as shareholders, yesterday completed a $37.5m series D round.
Redmile Group led the round that featured investment firms Invus and Samsara BioCapital, as well as several unnamed existing investors.
Hookipa is developing immunotherapies that are designed to reprogram the body’s immune system to treat infectious diseases and cancer.
The company’s arenavirus platform engineers viruses to deliver disease-specific proteins called antigens. The immune system is able to detect these antigens and destroys any cell that expresses them.
Proceeds from the round will be used to fund the clinical trails of the company’s two lead programs, including HB-101, a prophylactic cytomegalovirus vaccine that is currently in a phase 2 trial for patients awaiting kidney transplants.
Capital will also be used to develop the company’s oncology product candidates, which aim to treat head and neck cancers associated with a virus called human papillomavirus.
In 2017, the company, then called Hookipa Biotech, closed a $59.6m series C round led by an undisclosed investment fund.
Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and Takeda Ventures, the respective corporate venturing units of Boehringer and Takeda, took part in the round, as did Gilead Sciences, HBM Partners, Hillhouse Capital, Sirona Capital, Sofinnova Partners, Forbion Capital Partners and BioMedPartners.
Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and Takeda Ventures previously contributed to a $27.5m series B round in 2013, alongside Sofinnova, Forbion and BioMedPartners in 2013. Sofinnova and Forbion had already backed a $9.4m series A round in 2011.