US-based autoimmune and inflammatory disease drug developer Mozart Therapeutics publicly launched yesterday with $55m in series A funding from investors including pharmaceutical producers Bayer, Eli Lilly and Merck & Co.
Arch Venture Partners led the round, which also featured fellow venture capital firms Sofinnova Partners and Altitude Life Science Ventures as well as Alexandria Venture Investments, participating on behalf of life sciences real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities.
Merck and Bayer participated in the round through MRL Ventures Fund and Leaps by Bayer respectively. The startup said Arch Venture Partners had also led its seed round, without giving details on its size.
Mozart is working on therapies designed to target a particular regulatory immune pathway to treat autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Its initial focus is on autoimmune mediated gastrointestinal disorders.
The company’s scientific co-founders – Mark M. Davis, K. Christopher Garcia and Calvin Kuo – all hail from Stanford University, and it will use the cash to advance its lead drug candidate into clinical trials.
MRL Ventures managing partner Peter Dudek, Leaps by Bayer and Julie Gilmore, chief operating officer of Eli subsidiary Lilly Gateway Labs, are both on Mozart’s board of directors, as is Lucio Iannone, vice-president of venture investments for Leaps by Bayer.