US-based biotechnology company Raze Therapeutics closed a $24m series A round on Tuesday backed by investors including pharmaceutical firms Astellas and Novartis.
Venture capital firms Atlas Ventures, MS Ventures, MPM Capital Management and Partners Innovation Fund joined Astellas Venture Management and Novartis in the round.
The funding will support the development of new therapeutics that fight cancer through the targeting of the metabolic pathways that allow tumours to survive.
The funding was announced on the same day as Novartis and Astellas contributed funding to a $32m round raised by another cancer-focused biopharmaceutical company, Bicycle Therapeutics.
Jason Rhodes, a partner at Atlas, has joined Raze’s board of directors and has taken up the role of acting chief executive. Raze was originally seeded by Atlas Ventures.