US-based precision therapy developer Corvidia Therapeutics closed a $60m series B round yesterday that featured kidney dialysis equipment provider Fresenius Medical Care and pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca.
The deal was led by venture capital firm Venrock and also included Venrock’s Healthcare Capital Partners fund as well as Andera, Cormorant Asset Management, HBM Healthcare Investments, Apple Tree Partners and Sofinnova Partners.
Fresenius and AstraZeneca participated through corporate venturing unit Fresenius Medical Care Ventures and drug development subsidiary MedImmune respectively.
Corvidia is working on genomics-based therapies for patients suffering from conditions with unmet medical need that are intended to account for individual genetic variations within users.
The company expects to soon complete phase 2 clinical trials for its lead asset, which is intended to alleviate advanced chronic kidney disease, and will put the series B capital towards its further development.
The round’s proceeds will also enable Corvidia to expand its headcount and advance its preclinical stage assets.
Corvidia has appointed Marc de Garidel, former chairman and chief executive of drug developer Ipsen, as its CEO while de Garidel’s predecessor, co-founder Michael Davidson, will take the chief science officer role.
De Garidel said: “This funding is critical to accelerating our clinical programs and adding the necessary scientific and market access infrastructure which will drive our growth in developing precision therapies for patients across a range of complex diseases.”
Corvidia attracted $26m in a February 2016 series A round co-led by Apple Tree and Sofinnova in which MedImmune has now been named as an additional investor. Sofinnova had previously equipped the company with an undisclosed amount of seed funding.