AAA Stoke sticks another $90m in its wallet

Stoke sticks another $90m in its wallet

US-based genetic medicine developer Stoke Therapeutics has closed a $90m series B round that included Alexandria Venture Investments, the venture capital arm of life sciences real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities.

RTW Investments led the round, which also featured Apple Tree Partners, RA Capital Management, Cormorant Asset Management, Perceptive Advisors, Redmile Group, Sphera Funds Management and funds managed by Janus Henderson Investors.

Stoke is working on drugs intended to increase gene expression to combat serious conditions caused by gene function being lost or diminished.

The company has a pipeline of preclinical drug candidates being developed to target diseases of the central nervous system, eye, ear, liver and kidney, but its lead candidate is a treatment for a form of epilepsy called Dravet syndrome slated to enter clinical trials by 2020.

VC firm Apple Tree Partners had previously provided $40m of series A funding for Stoke when it was launched in January this year.

Roderick Wong from RTW Investments, Matthew Hammond from RA Capital and Bihua Chen from Cormorant Asset Management are taking observer positions on Stoke’s board of directors in conjunction with the round.

Edward Kaye, Stoke Therapeutics’ CEO, said: “Our technology is designed to address, for the first time, the genetic cause of diseases like Dravet Syndrome so we can do more than alleviate symptoms – we can potentially prevent the long-term disabling consequences of these diseases.

“We are delighted to have the support of such an outstanding group of crossover investors to speed our progress toward the clinic.”

By Robert Lavine

Robert Lavine is special features editor for Global Venturing.

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