UK-based biotechnology developer Pulmocide raised £25m ($30m) in series B funding on Monday from a consortium of investors including pharmaceutical firms GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Johnson & Johnson (J&J).
GSK and J&J took part through their respective corporate venturing subsidiaries, SR One and Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC.
F-Prime Capital, a venture capital vehicle owned by financial services conglomerate FMR, also participated, as did Longwood Fund, SV Life Sciences and Touchstone Innovations, the commercialisation firm originally formed by Imperial College London.
Pulmocide, a spinout of Imperial College London, is working on small-molecule inhaled therapies for life threatening respiratory conditions.
The company focuses on diseases caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a common condition that usually results in cold-like symptoms but which can be more serious in older children and adults, and by a mould known as Aspergillus that causes conditions such as fungal asthma.
The series B capital will allow Pulmocide to advance its candidates, including one antiviral agent for RSV and one treatment for pulmonary Aspergillosis, through early clinical development.
Touchstone Innovations (then known as Imperial Innovations) previously invested in Pulmocide’s £17m series A round in 2013, which included Johnson & Johnson, F-Prime Capital (then known as Fidelity Biosciences) and SV Life Sciences.
Matthew Foy, partner at SR One, said: “Pulmocide’s core asset is the management team`s proprietary expertise in the design of highly potent compounds with extended lung retention time and limited systemic exposure.
“This has enabled the development of two anti-infective drugs for serious diseases of the lung, where an inhaled therapy should deliver the optimal clinical outcome.”
– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site Global University Venturing