OvaScience, a US-based fertility company, has raised $37m in its series B round.
Venture capital (VC) firm General Catalyst led the B round and was joined by peers and existing investors, Bessemer Venture Partners and Longwood Fund, which was set up by the former head of drugs company GlaxoSmithKline’s corporate venturing unit and has the healthcare company as a limited partner in its fund.
Other investors include BBT Capital Management Advisors, Cycad Group, Hunt BioVentures and RA Capital.
Investment bank Leerink Swann was lead placement agent for the offering.
OvaScience plans to use the proceeds from the financing to support the development and commercialization of its fertility treatment approaches based on the egg precursor cell discoveries of OvaScience co-founder Jonathan Tilly, chief of research for Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).
OvaScience holds an exclusive license from MGH to an issued US patent and various patent applications related to Dr Tilly’s egg precursor cell discoveries.