Mérieux Développement, the investment arm of the French biotech conglomerate Institut Mérieux, has led a $6.4m financing round for NeuroPhage, a life sciences company.
Existing investors Shire Pharmaceuticals also joined the round, which takes the total funding raised by the company to $35m.
Neurophage is developing treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases, and will use this latest round to continue its research.
The firm raised $7m in series A funding in 2008 from an undisclosed group of private biotech investors. Shire Pharmaceuticals, an Irish-headquartered biopharmaceutical company, joined a $12.4m series B round in 2011, which was also led by Mérieux Développement. In 2012, that series B round was extended by a further $9m, with Mérieux and Shire joined by unnamed private investors.