US-based liver disease drug developer Inipharm completed a $35m series A round on Wednesday featuring Jubilant Biosys, the contract research organisation (CRO) subsidiary of pharmaceutical company Jubilant Life Sciences.
Venture capital firm 5AM Ventures and investment firms Wu Capital and Frazier Healthcare Partners also participated in the round.
Inipharm is working on small molecule treatments for liver and related diseases. Its research is focused on the HSD17B13 and it intends to put the series A funding into advancing its first drug candidate into clinical trials.
Dan Estes, a general partner at Frazier Healthcare Partners who was a also a founding board member of the startup, said: “HSD17B13 is a fascinating target with strong genetic links to numerous liver diseases.
“The Inipharm team, along with CRO partner Jubilant Biosys, has made excellent early progress in modulating this target with small molecules, and we are thrilled to support the company to accelerate their efforts towards the clinic.”
Both Jubilant Biosys and Frazier Healthcare Partners were identified as existing backers, though Inipharm has not revealed details of earlier financing.
