Conglomerate Itochu has agreed to provide €10m ($11.3m) in capital as anchor investor in a series D round being raised by Promethera Biosciences, a Belgium-based liver disease therapy developer.
The company disclosed the investment alongside $16.6m in convertible bond financing from investors including biopharmaceutical company Sosei Group, Beyond Next Ventures, CMBCC Co-High Medical Investment Fund and various individuals.
Promethera focuses on the development of cell-based therapies for acute and chronic liver diseases. Its lead program, HepaStem, uses liver-derived cells obtained from healthy donated organs to combat systemic liver inflammation and progressive fibrosis.
The series D round is expected to close in the first quarter of this year but the company has not disclosed a target for the close.
In April 2018, Promethera landed $11.5m in convertible bond financing from investors including packaging system manufacturer Shibuya Corporation and Shinsei Corporate Investment, the corporate venturing arm of financial services firm Shinsei Bank.
The company had previously raised $11m in a series C round featuring pharmaceutical firm Boehringer Ingelheim, tissue engineering researcher LifeLiver, diversified conglomerate Mitsui and industrial engineering firm SMS Group in late 2016.
Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, the corporate venturing unit of financial services firm Mistubishi UFJ, also participated in the 2016 round, as did Cell Innovation Partners, Fund+, Vesalius Biocapital and the Wallonia government-backed SRIW.
Fierce Biotech reported that only $6.7m of the series C round consisted of newly raised capital, with the remainder part of a $25.4m first equity tranche backed by SMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Vesalius and Belgium federal government-owned holding company SFPI in 2014.
Promethera had previously secured $31.4m in debt and equity financing from Boehringer Ingelheim, Mitsui subsidiary Mitsui Global Investment, pharmaceutical company Shire, Japanese investment fund Mitsui Global Investment, semiconductor material manufacturer ATMI and VC fund SambrInvest in a 2012 series B round.