France-based synthetic DNA producer DNA Script secured $165m in a series C round featuring corporates Merck Group, Illumina, Danaher and Agilent Technologies yesterday.
Coatue Management and Catalio Capital Management co-led the round, which included investment and financial services group Fidelity and Alexandria Venture Investments, part of life sciences real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities.
BPIfrance’s Large Venture Fund made up the rest of the investors along with Arrowmark Partners, Farallon Capital, Columbia Threadneedle Investments, Moore Strategic Ventures, LSP, Kurma Partners and Casdin Capital.
Genomics technology producer Illumina and laboratory equipment producer Agilent took part in the round directly while pharmaceutical firm Merck and conglomerate Danaher did so through subsidiaries M Ventures and Danaher Life Sciences.
DNA Script has developed a benchtop enzymatic synthesis instrument called Syntax to design and manufacture nucleic acids, the building blocks of DNA and RNA. It will use the funding to speed up commercialisation of Syntax and develop new enzymatic DNA synthesis (EDS)-derived products.
The round brings DNA Script’s total funding to $280m, it said. It had closed an $88.5m series B round in July 2020 featuring Illumina vehicle Illumina Ventures, M Ventures, Agilent, Danaher Life Sciences, Casdin Capital, Idinvest, Kurma Partners, BPIfrance Large Venture Fund and LSP.
M Ventures and Illumina Ventures also took part in the company’s $13.2m series A round in 2017 together with Idinvest and existing investors Sofinnova Partners and Kurma Partners.
DNA Script’s co-founder and chief executive, Thomas Ybert, said: “We are excited to have such a strong syndicate of long-term investors that will help us grow the company, as we plan to aggressively expand the company by hiring over a hundred personnel.
“This expansion of talent and resources will enable us to execute on EDS technology’s promise and our ambitious goals to drive DNA-on-demand further on the path to revolutionise life science research as well as personalised medicine.”
