UK-based small-molecule therapeutics developer Storm Therapeutics increased its series A round to £16m ($21.6m) yesterday with funding from Taiho Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of pharmaceutical company Taiho Pharmaceutical.
Storm received the first £12m from Merck Ventures and Pfizer Venture Investments, respective subsidaries of pharmaceutical firms Merck Group and Pfizer, Touchstone Innovations and Cambridge Innovation Capital in June 2016.
Storm Therapeutics is developing medicines that will treat cancer and other diseases by modulating the enzymes that modify RNAs, the molecule that plays a key role in the regulation, coding and expression of genes.
The company’s approach is based on work by Tony Kouzarides, professor of cancer biology in the Department of Pathology of Cambridge’s Gurdon Institute, and Eric Miska, a professor of molecular genetics who leads a non-coding RNA research lab in the same institution.
Sakae Asanuma, president of Taiho Ventures, said: “We are excited to join this experienced management team and investor syndicate to help Storm Therapeutics fulfil its ambition to become the leading therapeutics company in RNA epigenetic modulation.”
Storm Therapeutics had raised an undisclosed amount in a 2015 seed round led by Touchstone Innovations and backed by Cambridge Innovation Capital and unnamed additional investors.
– The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.