Poseida Therapeutics, a US-based gene therapy developer backed by pharmaceutical firm Novartis, completed a $110m series D round on Thursday led by funds advised by investment and financial services group Fidelity.
Adage Capital Management, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors and unnamed existing shareholders also took part in the round, which closed just two days after Poseida filed for a $115m initial public offering on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
Founded in 2014, Poseida is developing gene engineering technologies intended to form the basis for cell and gene therapies that could potentially be apolicable for a broad range of conditions. Its pipeline includes candidates aimed at haematological and solid tumours, as well as orphan genetic diseases affecting the liver.
The series D financing has been allocated to the development of Poseida’s lead asset, P-BCMA-101, a potential treatment for multiple myeloma, according to FierceBiotech. BofA Securities was placement agent for the round.
Novartis led a series C round for the company in July 2019 sized at $150m according to the IPO filing. It included biotech producer Transposagen Biopharmaceuticals, Malin, Longitude Capital, Vivo Capital, Aisling Capital, Pentwater Capital, Perceptive Advisors and Tavistock Group’s Boxer Capital subsidiary.
Longitude Capital had already led Poseida’s $30.5m series B round in 2018, with participation from Vivo Capital, Tavistock Group and existing investor Malin.
