US-based charitable organisation Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has invested $10m in Liquidia Technologies to support the development and commercialization of its malaria vaccines and therapeutics.
Liquidia previously raised more than $41m, including a $25m series C round in April from New York-listed clinical research organisation PPD and venture capital firms Canaan Partners, New Enterprise Associates, Morningside Venture Investments, Pappas Ventures and Firelake Capital.
At the time of C round extension in April, Neal Fowler, chief executive of Liquidia, said: "Given PPD’s broad expertise in vaccine and biologic drug development, this was a compelling opportunity for both parties. The addition of PPD as an investor provides further resources for rapidly advancing our product pipeline and reinforces the potential of our disruptive technology platform."
The $16m B round closed in March 2007. The company was formed out of research by University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University into materials technology for fluoropolymers, which are liquid at room temperature but cure to Teflon-like elastic solids when exposed to light and so combine the properties of silicones and glass.
These materials allow discrete nanoscale objects, including particles useful for drug delivery and discovery and disease detection and mapping, to be made.