US-based immuno-oncology therapy developer Synthekine has raised $108m in a series B round featuring Lilly Asia Ventures, a corporate venturing vehicle for pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly.
The round was co-led by investment firm Deerfield Management and asset manager Janus Henderson Investors.
RA Capital Management, Rock Springs Capital, Omega Funds, Samsara BioCapital, Canaan Partners, Emerson Collective, Column Group and its affiliate TCG Crossover, as well as an undisclosed healthcare investor also took part.
Founded in 2018, Synthekine is studying engineered cytokine – molecules secreted by specific cells in the immune system – to develop treatments for patients with cancer and autoimmune disorders.
The capital injection will support clinical studies for Synthekine’s therapeutic pipeline. Its lead candidate, STK-012, is a partial agonist that can induce anti-tumour activity without the toxicities commonly associated with therapeutics based on the cytokine interleukin-2.
The company’s technology platform was developed by Christopher Garcia, a professor of molecular and cellular physiology and structural biology at Stanford University School of Medicine.
Synthekine has raised at least $190m of funding to date. In September 2020, Synthekine raised $82m of series A funding in a round co-led by Canaan Partners, Samsara BioCapital and Column Group investing together with unnamed participants.
Emerson Collective was described as an existing investor in the series B announcement.