US-based biotechnology developer Medeor Therapeutics closed a $57m series B round yesterday with investors including WuXi Healthcare Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of medical research firm WuXi PharmaTech.
The oversubscribed round was led by RA Capital Management and also featured Sofinnova Ventures, 6 Dimensions Capital and Vivo Capital.
Founded in 2012, Medeor Therapeutics is working on personalised cellular immunotherapies. Its first candidates focus on kidney transplant patients, where it hopes the treatments will reduce the need for long-term immunosuppression.
The money will go towards the phase 3 clinical trial of MDR-101, for kidney transplant patients matched with their donors, and a phase 2b trial of MDR-102, for mismatched patients.
The company will also begin development of MDR-103, which is expected to induce a delayed immune response, and MDR-104, which will address the needs of deceased donor kidney transplant patients.
Peter Kolchinsky, portfolio manager and managing director at RA Capital, and Anand Mehra, general partner at Sofinnova Ventures, have joined the board of directors.
Vivo Capital previously led an $8m series A round in 2015, according to deals database PitchBook, which also lists WuXi Healthcare Ventures as an investor in a $1.55m seed round in October 2013 after undisclosed backers had provided $1m in January 2013.
Kolchinsky said: “Organ transplantation is one of the most remarkable life-giving feats of modern medicine, though patients must deal with intense and sometimes intolerable chronic immune suppression.
“Based on brilliant insights into human immunology, we believe Medeor may have elegantly transformed this procedure to meaningfully reduce the need for long-term immunosuppression, allowing patients not only to survive thanks to the generosity of a donor but also to enjoy a higher quality of life.”