US-based drug developer C4 Therapeutics raised $73m in a series A round yesterday from a consortium of investors including pharmaceutical firms Roche and Novartis. as well as diversified conglomerate Kraft.
The round was led by Cobro Ventures and also featured Cormorant Asset Management, EG Capital Group and assorted angel investors.
C4 is developing treatments that target disease-causing proteins which have proven resistant to current drugs.
The company was spun out of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, an affiliate of Harvard University’s Harvard Medical School, and is based on research at the institute’s Bradner Lab.
Nathanael Gray, co-founder of C4 Therapeutics and professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology at Harvard Medical School, said: “The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has a strong track record of fostering the advancement of ground-breaking discoveries in numerous oncology applications.
“By licensing these technologies to companies such as C4, we are supporting the further development of highly promising therapeutic candidates for the betterment of human health.”