Atara Biotherapeutics, a US-based drug development company which was spun off in 2012 from US-based biotechnology company Amgen, has made a second closing of its series B financing, bringing the total raised to $52m. Investors in the series B include Amgen Ventures, the corporate venture capital fund of Amgen, biopharmaceutical company Celgene Corporation, hedge fund The Baupost Group, and venture capital firms Alexandria Venture Investments, DAG Ventures, Domain Associates, EcoR1 Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
Previously, venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) provided the initial financing and management for Atara, while Amgen took an equity stake.
Proceeds will be used to accelerate the clinical development of Atara’s two lead programs, PINTA 745, for treating protein energy wasting (PEW) in patients with end-stage renal disease, and STM 434, an inhibitor of activin for the treatment of ovarian cancer.