US-based biopharma company Syndexa Pharmaceuticals secured $8.5m in series B1 funding from backers including MP Healthcare Venture Management (MPH), a venture capital firm which acts as a subsidiary of pharmaceutical concern Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation and its parent company, Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings.
Also participating in the B1 round was the founder of electronics hardware maker Hittite Microwave, Yalcin Ayasli, who led the initial B1 round in April this year. Ayasli previously led Syndexa’s first series B round, which raised $15m in May 2008. The latest round has brought its overall financing to $24.8m.
Syndexa develops biological mechanisms to treat a range of metabolic diseases including obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease by targeting the interface between metabolic and inflammatory pathways.
Tetsuro Iwata will take the post of Board Observer on Syndexa’s board in conjunction with MPH’s investment.