US-based genetic medicine developer Arbor Biotechnologies closed its series B round at $215m on Tuesday, with genomics technology provider Illumina and pharmaceutical firm Vertex Pharmaceuticals among the investors.
Singapore state-owned investment firm Temasek co-led the round with healthcare investment group Ally Bridge and investment firm TCG Crossover while Illumina participated through its corporate venturing unit, Illumina Ventures.
Arrowmark Partners, Deep Track Capital, Great Point Ventures, Janus Henderson Investors, Logos Capital, Ono Venture Investment, Piper Heartland Healthcare Capital and Ridgeback Capital Investments also contributed to the round.
The participants were filled out by Section 32, Surveyor Capital, T Rowe Price, Tao Capital Partners, Woodline Partners Woodline Partners LP, Arch Venture Partners, an unnamed investment fund and funds managed by Tekla Capital Management.
Arbor is working on treatments for liver and central nervous system (CNS) disease based on genomic editors it has developed that can be designed to target the underlying cause of specific diseases.
The cash will support work on the company’s discovery technology and the advancement of drug candidates for CNS and liver disease into clinical trials.
The round pushed Arbor’s overall funding to over $300m, it said, and named Arch Venture Partners as an existing backer. It had raised $16m from undisclosed investors in 2017, according to a regulatory filing.
