Switzerland-based biopharmaceutical firm Inthera Bioscience closed a SFr10.5m ($11m) series A round on Wednesday led by Merck Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of pharmaceutical company Merck.
The round included Novo Seeds, the early-stage investment arm of pharmaceutical group Novo, and Aglaia Biomedical Ventures as well as an unnamed private investor.
Founded in 2013, Inthera Bioscience is working on drugs to treat solid tumours. The company currently has several programs in pre-clinical development.
Emmanuelle Coutanceau of Novo Seeds and Keno Gutierrez of Merck Ventures have joined the company’s board of directors.
Merck Ventures previously led a $3.7m seed round in 2015 that also included Novo Seeds, Aglaia Biomedical Ventures and Eva Basel, a fund created by financial services firms Cantonal Banks of Basel-Stadt and Basel Landschaft.
Ulrich Kessler, chief executive and co-founder of Inthera Bioscience, said: “We are now in a position to complete the pre-clinical development of our lead program against HPV-associated cancers and expand our operations and pipeline.
“I am very glad about the strong commitment from our investors and look forward to unfolding Inthera’s innovative potential in oncology supported by our experienced new board members.”