US-based antifungal treatment developer Amplyx Pharmaceuticals received $67m in series C funding yesterday from investors including Lundbeckfonden Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of pharmaceutical firm Lundbeck.
Venture capital firm Sofinnova Ventures led the round, which also featured Arix Bioscience, BioMed Ventures, Pappas Capital, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), RiverVest Venture Partners and 3×5 RiverVest II, the fund it co-manages with 3×5 Partners.
Founded in 2006, Amplyx Pharmaceuticals is working on a drug known as APX001 to treat life-threatening fungal infections, including rare and difficult-to-treat moulds, and strains which are resistant to multiple other drugs.
APX001 has undergone a phase 1 clinical trial, with phase 2 studies scheduled for later this year. The series C funding will be used to advance the drug’s clinical development.
Johan Kördel, senior partner at Lundbeckfonden Ventures, and Anand Mehra, managing partner at Sofinnova Ventures, will join Amplyx’s board of directors.
Amplyx has raised $118.5m in equity funding to date, according to its latest press release. The company closed its $49.2m series B round in February 2016, after 3×5 Partners provided $8.7m for the round’s second tranche.
The $40.5m first tranche was led by RiverVest Venture Partners in 2015, with participation from NEA, BioMed Ventures and assorted angel investors.
Amplyx raised $1.5m in a 2010 series A round that was secured over several tranches that featured Golden Seeds, Life Science Angels and Tech Coast Angels.
Ciara Kennedy, CEO of Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, said: “The strong interest from such high-quality investors further validates our confidence in the potential of our lead drug candidate to combat deadly fungal infections, which pose a serious risk to immunocompromised patients.
“Our new investors understand the critical unmet medical need and share Amplyx’s vision of accelerating the development of new treatment options for patients who are faced with these life-threatening infections.”