US-based smart cell therapy developer Outpace Bio completed a $30m series A round yesterday co-led by cellular therapy developer Lyell Immunopharma and venture capital firm Artis Ventures.
Abstract Ventures, Civilization Ventures, Mubadala Capital, Playground Global, Sahsen Ventures and WRF Capital also took part in the round. The company has not revealed any details of seed financing.
Outpace is working on synthetic proteins using its own biological software and hardware, and is initially focusing on ultra-specific T cell therapies for solid tumours.
The company was formed by Marc Lajoie and Scott Boyken, co-founders of Lyell Immunopharma, together with a scientific team from the company. Its technology partially stems from research at David Baker’s Lab at University of Washington.
Rick Klausner, founder and chairman of Lyell Immunopharma, said: “Outpace’s technology holds promise to enable the efficacy of this cytokine without the toxicity. Outpace’s approach is unique in its ability to directly modulate this biology, and we look forward to working with them.”
