US-based biopharmaceutical company Adicet Bio closed a $51m series A round yesterday featuring Novartis Venture Fund, the corporate venturing arm of pharmaceutical firm Novartis.
The round was led by healthcare-focused investment firm OrbiMed and included venture capital firm Pontifax.
Adicet concurrently announced it has acquired Israel-based immunotherapies developer Applied Immune Technologies (AIT) for an undisclosed amount.
Pontifax had invested $4m in AIT, a spinout of Technion Israel Institute of Technology, in 2010. It will continue to operate in Israel as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Adicet.
Co-founded in 2014 by OrbiMed and Aya Jakobovits, Adicet is working on immunotherapies for cancer and other diseases. It will use the funding to further develop its platform and products, and to also advance AIT’s pipeline and programs.
Florent Gros, managing director at Novartis Venture Fund, will join Adicet’s board of directors.
Jakobovits, founder, president and CEO of Adicet, said: “AIT’s technologies, capabilities, and intellectual property highly complement those of Adicet and position the combined company to become a leader in next-generation immunotherapy products for cancer and other indications.”