C4 Therapeutics, a US-based small molecule drug developer backed by diversified conglomerate Kraft Group and pharmaceutical firms Roche and Novartis, completed a $170m financing round yesterday.
Investment firm Cobro Ventures and hedge fund Perceptive Advisors co-led the $150m series B equity portion of the round, which also featured undisclosed existing investors, while Perceptive Advisors also supplied $20m in debt financing.
Adage Capital Management, Axil Capital, Bain Capital Life Sciences, Commodore Capital, 3E Bioventures Capital, HBM Healthcare Investments, Lightchain Capital, Logos Capital, Mizuho Securities Principal Investment and Nextech also participated in the series B round.
The equity portion was rounded off by RA Capital Management, RTW Investments, Sphera Funds Management, Taiwania Capital Management, Yonjin Venture, and funds and accounts managed by T. Rowe Price and Janus Henderson Investors.
C4 is working on small molecule therapeutics designed to degrade and eventually destroy proteins that cause disease. The funding will support the advancement of several product candidates to the clinical trial stage.
Roche, Novartis, Kraft and Cobro Ventures all contributed to the company’s $73m series A round in 2016, investing together with Cormorant Asset Management, EG Capital Group and unnamed individuals. Jefferies and Locust Walk advised C4 on the latest round.
The company expects to file its first Investigational New Drug application by the end of 2020, with a view to bringing four candidates into the clinic in the two years afterwards. Its technology is based on research at Harvard University’s Bradner Lab and it was spun out of the Harvard-affiliated Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Marc Cohen, C4’s co-founder, chairman and CEO, said: “Protein degraders allow for more potent and durable pharmacologic responses than traditional inhibitors, and we bring a differentiated approach to this transformative modality through our proprietary Torpedo platform.
“We look forward to advancing our programs with the goal of bringing new therapeutics to patients suffering from life-threatening diseases and are thrilled to have attracted top-tier life science investors to our company in this very oversubscribed round.”
