Karuna Therapeutics, a US-based developer of treatments for central nervous system disorders, closed a $68m series B round today that included pharmaceutical company PureTech Health.
Venture capital firm Arch Venture Partners led the round, which also featured Pivotal BioVenture Partners, the VC firm funded by property developer Nan Fung, as well as Alexandria Venture Investments, the VC arm of life sciences real estate trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities.
The round was filled out by financial services and investment group Fidelity Management & Research, Eventide Asset Management, Partner Fund Management, Wellcome Trust and Sands Capital, and included $5m of debt financing that was converted into equity
Founded by PureTech, Karuna is developing treatments for cognitive impairment or psychosis that result from disorders in the central nervous system disorders. Its lead drug candidate, KarXT, is in a phase 2 clinical trial for acute psychosis in patients with schizophrenia.
Heather Preston, managing director of Pivotal BioVenture Partners, has joined the company’s board of directors in connection with the round.
The funding will be used to develop KarXT as a possible treatment for conditions such as geriatric psychosis and pain, and to grow Karuna’s pipeline of candidates.
Karuna raised $42m in a series A debt and equity round in August 2018 that included PureTech Health, Arch Venture Partners, Wellcome Trust and Steven Paul, a venture partner at venture capital fund Third Rock Ventures.
The company had previously secured $8m two months earlier in June the same year, adding to a $3.8m grant in received from Wellcome. It had also received $600,000 in debt financing in 2011 according to a regulatory filing.