Austria-based immunotherapy developer Hookipa Biotech closed a $59.6m series C round yesterday featuring pharmaceutical companies Gilead Sciences, Boehringer Ingelheim and Takeda.
The round was led by an undisclosed investment fund with participation from HBM Partners, Hillhouse Capital, Sirona Capital, Sofinnova Partners, Forbion Capital Partners and BioMedPartners.
Boehringer and Takeda contributed through their respective corporate venturing units, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and Takeda Ventures.
Founded in 2011, Hookipa is developing immunotherapies to treat infectious diseases and cancer by infecting dendritic cells, which process antigen material in the immune system, to stimulate the body’s immune responses.
The funding will be used to progress clinical trials of the company’s two lead development programs: a phase 2 study of a prophylactic cytomegalovirus vaccine in organ transplant patients and a phase 1 study of its TheraT therapy in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
Hookipa raised $27.5m in series B funding from Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, Takeda Ventures, Sofinnova Partners, Forbion Capital Partners and BioMedPartners in 2013, after Sofinnova and Forbion had provided $9.4m in a 2011 series A round.
Joern Aldag, CEO of Hookipa, said: “Our vision is of a world in which the immune system actively controls infectious diseases and cancer, using monotherapy or combinations of medications.
“We welcome the funding and support from this group of leading current and new investors, who have recognised the potential, versatility and uniqueness of our novel viral vector platform in this context.”