The corporate venturing arm of Swiss-based drugs company Novartis has led a $36m extension financing by Sorbent Therapeutics, a US-based pharmaceutical company.
Novartis Ventures joined the extension of Sorbent’s series B round alongside existing investors: venture firms Sofinnova Ventures, Arch Venture Partners, CMEA Capital and AgeChem. The extension funding taking the total raised during the series B to $53m.
Sorbent has previously raised $19m in its series A and seed funding, meaning the company has rased $72m in total. It is also backed by the corporate venturing unit of US based chemicals company Dow Chemical.
Sorbent is developing drugs to treat congestive heart failure, chronic kidney disease, end stage renal disease, and hypertension. Sorbent’s main drug CLP1001 is designed to remove potassium, sodium and fluid in a tolerable manner from patients.
Markus Goebel, a managing director of Novartis Venture Funds, will join Sorbent’s board and said: "The CLP platform of Sorbent presents an attractive investment opportunity and we are especially encouraged by the clinical data that Sorbent has generated to date, which shows promise for various indications in the cardio-renal field."