Expansion Therapeutics, a US-based developer of drugs for severe RNA-mediated diseases, completed an $80m series B round yesterday with investments from pharmaceutical firms Novartis and Sanofi.
Cormorant Asset Management led the round, which included Westlake Village BioPartners, Surveyor Capital, Logos Capital, RA Capital Management, 5AM Ventures and Kleiner Perkins, while Sanofi Ventures and Novartis Venture Fund represented Sanofi and Novartis respectively.
Founded in 2016, Expansion is focused on developing small molecule medicines for severe RNA-mediated diseases such as neurodegenerative and neurological disorders.
The company will use the funding to advance the development of its small molecule RNA platform to identify clinical candidates for conditions including myotonic dystrophy type 1, frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Renato Skerlj, Expansion’s president and CEO, said: “This financing milestone demonstrates significant investor confidence in the leadership team, the science and our mission to accelerate the preclinical and clinical development of our novel medicines utilising our proprietary approach.”
Expansion closed a $55.3m series A round in 2018 that was co-led by Novartis Venture Fund and Sanofi Ventures and backed by Alexandria Venture Investments, a vehicle for life sciences real estate trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities, as well as 5AM Ventures, Kleiner Perkins and RA Capital Management.