Radius Health, a US-based drugs company to treat bones, has raised $66m in its third round of funding after pharmaceutical company Ipsen Pharma joined its consortium.
Radius also merged with MPM Acquisition Corporation, an unlisted public reporting shell company as part of its initial flotation.
At the initial closing of the financing, Radius received gross proceeds of $22m in equity and $6.25m in debt, and $1.4m of preferred stock was issued to Ipsen in lieu of a cash milestone payment. Didier Véron, director of public affairs and corporate communications at Ipsen, said: "We did this corporate venturing deal with Radius because Radius is our partner regarding our analog of PTHrP (parathyroid hormone-related protein) [since 2005]."
Alongside Ipsen in the C round were venture capital firms BB Biotech, BB Biotech Ventures, Brookside Capital, Saints Capital and Nordic Bioscience (which will handle its clinical research) as new equity investors alongside existing investors MPM Capital, MPM Bio IV NVS Strategic Fund, Wellcome Trust, HealthCare Ventures and Scottish Widows Investment Partnership.
Radius said it had raised $172.5m since launch, including $82.5m in April 2007 and $24m in November 2003.
Leerink Swann placed the equity financing, which was separate to a $25m loan by GE Capital, Healthcare Financial Services and Oxford Finance.