Netherlands-based biopharmaceutical company Merus raised the first tranche of a €72.8m ($83m) series C round yesterday that will be co-led by pharmaceutical company Novo and venture capital firm Sofinnova Ventures.
Novartis Venture Fund, Johnson & Johnson Innovation and Pfizer Venture Investments, respective corporate venturing subsidiaries of pharmaceutical firms Novartis, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer, also provided capital.
The corporate backers were joined by RA Capital Healthcare Fund, Rock Springs Capital, Tekla Capital Management, Bay City Capital, LSP Life Sciences Partners, Aglaia Oncology Fund and an undisclosed life sciences-focused investor.
Merus said it has agreed the entire €72.8m but has not disclosed how much has been provided so far. As part of the deal, Jack Nielsen, partner at Novo, and Anand Mehra, general partner at Sofinnova, have joined Merus’ board of directors.
Founded in 2003, Merus is working on antibodies for cancer treatment. The series C funding will support advancement of several of its clinical and pre-clinical programmes.
The company’s lead drug candidate has entered Phase 1/2 clinical trials, while a second candidate is planned to enter clinical testing in 2016.
Merus was reported in April 2015 to be preparing for a €100m initial public offering later in the year, and was expected to use the proceeds to fund clinical trials. Merus has not disclosed whether the series C funding will postpone its plans for a flotation.
The round comes after an undisclosed amount of series A funding from Aglaia Oncology, a seed fund run by VC firm Aglaia BioMedical Ventures, in 2006 and a $72.7m series B round raised across two tranches in 2010 and 2013.
Novartis Option Fund, Pfizer, Bay City Capital, Life Sciences Partners and Aglaia Oncology backed the $30.7m first tranche, while the $42m extension featured Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, Novartis Venture Fund, Pfizer Venture Investments, Bay City, LSP and Aglaia.