US-based gene therapy developer StrideBio closed an $81.5m series B round yesterday co-led by pharmaceutical firm Novo and venture capital firm Northpond Ventures.
The round included pharmaceutical companies Sarepta Therapeutics, UCB and Takeda, the last two investing through their UCB Ventures and Takeda Ventures vehicles, while real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities took part through Alexandria Venture Investments.
University of Florida’s UF Innovate Ventures filled out the round together with Pontifax, Octagon Capital, CaaS Capital and Hatteras Venture Partners.
Founded in 2015, StrideBio is working on engineered adeno-associated virus-based gene therapies intebded to overcome the current limitations of gene therapy. It is initially focused on genetically-defined central nervous system and cardiovascular disorders
The company is exploiting research undertaken at University of Florida and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The cash will allow it to advance its first product candidates into the clinic, drive further platform development and bolster its manufacturing capacity.
Karen Hong, partner at Novo’s investment affiliate Novo Ventures, and Northpond director Shaan Gandhi have joined StrideBio’s board of directors in conjunction with the round.
StrideBio raised $15.7m in a 2018 series A round in 2018 led by Hatteras Venture Partners, with participation from UCB Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments and Takeda Ventures. It had already secured $1m in seed financing from Hatteras the previous year.
The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.
