Silverback Therapeutics, a US-based startup working on locally active medicines, has completed a $47.5m series A round featuring pharmaceutical firm Celgene.
Healthcare investment firm OrbiMed led the round, which included Alexandria Venture Investments, the venture capital branch of life sciences real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities.
Silverback is developing therapies through its ImmunoTac platform for conditions such as cancer and fibrosis. The drugs will act at the site of a disease, meaning tissue elsewhere can be protected from negative effects of the medicine.
The company expects to present data from its lead programs in 2019. The series A round represents the total amount raised by Silverback since it was founded in 2016, it said.
Peter Thompson, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Silverback, said: “Silverback’s product candidates represent potentially important advances for patients, and the company’s underlying technology is designed to continue to unlock new avenues for drug development.
“Having the support of top-tier investors like OrbiMed, Celgene and Alexandria will be important as we continue to build the company and its programs to treat serious diseases.”