US-based biopharmaceutical company Navitor Phatmaceuticals has closed a $33m series B round co-led by Brace Pharma Capital, which acts as a subsidiary of Brazil-based pharmaceutical firm EMS, and undisclosed high net worth investors.
The round also included Sanofi-Genzyme BioVentures, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC and SR One, the respective corporate venturing arms of pharmaceutical companies Sanofi, Johnson & Johnson and GlaxoSmithKline.
Venture capital firms Polaris Partners, Atlas Venture and Remeditex Ventures also took part in the round.
Navitor is developing medicines that target cellular nutrient signalling pathways to treat metabolic, neurodegenerative, autoimmune and musculoskeletal diseases, in addition to age-related immune suppression and additional rare disorders.
The funding will be used to advance Navitor’s drug compound pipeline toward a point where their clinical efficacy and safety can be demonstrated. Vinzenz Ploerer, Brace Pharma Capital’s president and CEO, will join Navitor’s board of directors.
Navitor completed a $23.5m series A round featuring JJDC, SR One, Polaris Partners, Atlas Venture and Longevity Fund in June 2014, having raised $10.2m from backers including Polaris in 2013, when it was still operating under its old name, Caloric Pharmaceuticals.
George P. Vlasuk, president and CEO of Navitor, said: “We are excited to welcome three exceptional new investors to our syndicate and have the continued support of our existing key investor group.
“The additional capital from this financing gives Navitor the necessary resources to advance our drug discovery efforts toward the demonstration of clinical efficacy.”