US-based immunotherapy product developer Jounce Therapeutics closed an oversubscribed series B round at $56m today after raising money from investors including pharmaceutical firm Pharmstandard International.
Wellington Management Company, Redmile Group, Nextech Invest, Cormorant Asset Management, Omega Funds, Casdin Capital, Foresite Capital Management and an unnamed blue chip public investment fund also participated in the round.
Launched by venture capital firm Third Rock Ventures in 2014 with $47m of series A financing, Jounce is developing immunotherapy products to treat cancer.
The funding will support the advancement of Jounce’s cancer immunotherapy programme, moving its lead drug candidate into clinical testing and commencing studies on a second programme.
Richard Murray Jounce’s CEO, said: “We are incredibly pleased to have the support of this group of investors and are in a strong position to advance multiple programs toward human clinical proof of concept studies, including our [Inducible T cell co-stimulator] agonist monoclonal antibody.
“We believe this approach will be very beneficial in guiding early development and, ultimately, delivering highly effective immunotherapies with durable responses to patients in need of better treatment options.”