Switzerland-based pharmaceutical company builder Roivant Sciences is raising $200m in funding from investors including telecommunications and internet group SoftBank and drug distributor Dexcel Pharma at a $7bn valuation, it said yesterday.
Asset management firms including NovaQuest Capital Management and RTW Investments have provided a majority of the funding while the rest was supplied by all Roivant’s existing backers, which include SoftBank, Dexcel owner Dexxon and hedge fund sponsor QVT Financial.
A spokesperson told TechCrunch the round, which has not been completed, includes a “large US insurance company;” and a “big US investment firm,” though their identities were not disclosed.
Roivant is developing treatments for a wide range of diseases and conditions through the formation of a series of life sciences entities it refers to as vants.
The company currently has a total of 34 drug candidates in development across 14 vants that include rare disease therapy developer Enzyvant, the China-focused Sinovant and Urovant, which is working on treatments for overactive bladders.
The most successful of the vants thus far are Axovant, a neurological disorder therapy developer that went public in a $315m initial public offering in 2015, and women’s health and cancer treatment developer Myovant, which has a $1.28bn market capitalisation after floating in 2016.
The latest round is set to close next month and the proceeds will fund the creation of new vants. Roivant expects to receive topline data from six phase 3 clinical trials in 2019.
SoftBank’s Vision Fund led a $1.1bn round for in Roivant in August 2017 that included Dexxon, which was described as an initial investor in the company.
