Artizan Biosciences, a US-based developer of treatments for inflammatory diseases, has raised $12m in funding from investors including Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, pharmaceutical group Johnson & Johnson’s corporate venturing unit.
The company closed its series A round but did not specify whether the $12m figure for the funding total pertains to the round or its history. It secured $3m in funding in 2016 and added $5m in March this year according to regulatory filings.
Spun out of Yale University in 2016, Artizan is working on therapies for diseases associated with the human intestinal microbiota. It is chiefly looking to identify the disease-driving bacteria in inflammatory bowel disease to come up with treatments for the condition.
China-based medicine provider Brii Biosciences has also invested in the company, as part of a collaboration agreement that will involve it commercialising three Artizan drug candidates in its home country.
Osage University Partners and Elm Street Ventures also took part in the series A round, but Artizan did not disclose whether it included pharmaceutical company Malin, which paid an undisclosed sum for a 32% stake in the company in early 2017, or Hatteras Venture Partners, which invested at the same time.
