Baxter Ventures, established by the drug company Baxter International, has led a $38m Series B round into Naurex, a clinical-stage drug company developing treatments in psychiatry and neurology.
There also was involvement from existing investors, private equity investment firm Adams Street Partners, Latterell Venture Partners, Genesys Capital, PathoCapital, Druid Bioventures and Northwestern University as well as corporate investors including pharmaceutical company Lundbeck, Takeda Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, the largest pharmaceutical company in Japan, and Shire, an Ireland-based pharmaceutical company. There was also participation from investment manager Savitr Capital.
Baxter International is a $200m corporate venturing unit founded in 2011 that invests in early-stage companies developing therapies that complement Baxter’s existing portfolio.
The new funds will be used to finance the phase Ilb trial of GLYX-13, a drug for the treatment of depression. In conjuntion with the funding Dr. Norbert Reidel of Baxter International and Ian Ferrier, managing partner at Scotia-Nordic and advisor to Savitr Capital, wil join the Naurex board.
Naurex previously raised $18m in Series A funding in 2011. Adams Street Partners and Latterell Venture Partners led the round.
Naurex’s treatments are developed from the work of Joseph R. Moskal and his colleagues at the Falk Center for Molecular Therapeutics at Northwestern University.