US-based metabolic disease medicine developer Carmot Therapeutics has received $47m in a series C round backed by pharmaceutical firm Amgen.
The round also featured venture capital firm Horizons Ventures, healthcare-focused VC fund Column Group and unnamed institutional investors.
Carmot is developing treatments for metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, obesity and fatty liver disease. Its lead drug candidate, CT-868, targets two pancreatic receptors – GLP-1 and GIP – associated with producing incretin, the hormone responsible for modulating blood glucose levels.
The capital will fund clinical trials of CT-868 in addition to another GLP-1 and GIP-modulating candidate, CTT-388, which will also target metabolic diseases.
Carmot has also licensed a phase 2-stage cancer drug candidate identified using its molecular discovery platform to Amgen under a strategic partnership agreement. Peter Svennilson, founder and managing partner of Column Group, has joined its board of directors in conjunction with the series C round.
Column Group and Horizons Ventures co-led Carmot’s $15m series B round in early 2018, closing the round with participation from angel investors including Jerome Dahan.
The company had already raised a total of $12.9m in equity funding over three rounds between 2010 and 2017 according to regulatory filings, including a $1.5m series A round featuring Column Group in 2010.