US-based cell therapy developer AlloVir received $120m on Wednesday in a series B round that included pharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences.
The round was led by financial services and investment group Fidelity Management and Research, and also featured cell and gene therapy company builder ElevateBio, F2 Ventures, Redmile Group, Invus, EcoR1 Capital, Samsara BioCapital, and Leerink Partners Co-investment Fund.
Founded in 2013 and formerly known as ViraCyte, AlloVir is developing cell therapies that focus on restoring natural immunity against virus-associated diseases in patients with severely weakened immune systems.
The company’s lead product, Viralym-M (ALVR105), is being developed to combat six viral diseases: BK virus, cytomegalovirus, adenovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, human herpesvirus 6 and JC virus. Its second T-cell therapy, ALVR106, targets respiratory viruses like respiratory syncytial virus, influenza, parainfluenza virus and human metapneumovirus.
AlloVir is the first portfolio company to be revealed by ElevateBio, a holding company that recently launched with $150m to build cell and gene therapy startups.
Morana Jovan-Embiricos, managing partner at F2 Ventures, has joined the company’s board of directors in connection with the round, while Diana Brainard, senior vice-president of HIV and emerging viral infections at Gilead Sciences, has taken a board observer position.
David Hallal, chief executive of AlloVir and co-founder of ElevateBio, said: “Following successful meetings with the FDA, we are delighted to be working with the medical community to plan and initiate pivotal phase 3 studies for Viralym-M and advance ALVR106 into the clinic over the next 12 months.”
The company landed $30m in funding from an unnamed investor in September 2018, according to a regulatory filing. That investment came 13 months after it received a $8.9m grant from Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.