US-based biotechnology company Adaptive Biotechnologies closed a $195m series F round yesterday that included biotechnology companies Celgene and Illumina, laboratory services provider LabCorp and medical devices maker BD Biosciences.
The round was led by Matrix Capital Management and also featured property debt manager Alexandria Real Estate Equities, as well as Senator Investment Group, Rock Springs Capital, Tiger Global Management, Viking Global, Casdin Capital and an unnamed healthcare investor.
Adaptive has developed an immunosequencing platform that profiles parts of the immune system known as T-cell and B-cell receptors to find out how a patient will react to a drug. The receptors, types of white blood cells, are an important factor in fighting diseases such as cancer.
Adaptive plans on using the series F funding to support commercialisation of a target identification technology for T-cell therapy, to further develop its platform, and to seek regulatory approval in global markets. Part of the cash will also go towards expanding its database of receptors.
In January 2015, the company raised $94m in series D funding from undisclosed investors to support an acquisition of its competitor, Sequenta. Founded in 2010 as Adaptive TCR before renaming itself Adaptive Biotechnologies. It has raised a total of approximately $404m to date.