US-based diagnostic and therapeutic technology developer Indi Molecular has received $11.5m in a series A round co-led by M Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of Germany-headquartered pharmaceutical firm Merck Group.
M Ventures, which is known as Merck Ventures outside the US and Canada, co-led the round with Legend Capital, the private equity and venture capital firm sponsored by conglomerate Legend Holdings, and real estate and investment firm Sabey Corporation.
The round was filled out by existing investors including venture capital firm Asset Management Ventures. Andreas Jurgeit, an investment director at Merck Ventures, and Darren Cai, a managing director at Legend Capital, will join the company’s board.
Indi Molecular is developing synthetic replacements for antibodies, called protein catalysed capture agents (PCCs), which can be used in therapeutics, in vitro diagnostics and biological tools.
The company was founded in 2013 as a spinout of medical laboratory tools producer Integrated Diagnostics, and the PCC technology was created in collaboration with California Institute of Technology.
Indi Molecular will use the latest funding to build a PCC discovery platform as it looks to advance its work in positron emission tomography immuno-oncology imaging, which enables the viewing of cancer cell activity, to clinical stage.
VC firm InterWest led a $1.8m seed round for Indi Molecular in 2013 that also featured Asset Management Ventures and several unnamed angel investors.