Switzerland-based antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) developer NBE Therapeutics has completed a CHF20m ($20.5m) series B round featuring pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim’s corporate venturing unit, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund.
Financial services firm PPF Group led the round, which included NBE’s existing backers and a new, undisclosed private investor. Jan Hennecke, chief business officer of PPF’s biotech subsidiary Sotio, will join NBE’s board of directors in conjunction with the round.
NBE is working on ADCs that will be used to combat cancer. It will use the series B capital to advance its lead product candidate to the end of phase 1/2 clinical trials and strengthen its antibody, conjugation technology and toxin platforms.
Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund had previously led NBE’s CHF3m series A round in March 2015, which increased its total funding to CHF5.5m since it was founded in 2012.
Frank Kalkbrenner, managing director of Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, said: “This is a key step for NBE Therapeutics, validating their promising technology and providing the opportunity to validate their ADC assets in the clinic.
“The Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund is delighted to see another part of its broad cancer portfolio moving forward successfully.”