US-based biopharmaceutical company TP Therapeutics has closed a $45m series C round co-led by the corporate venture capital arms of pharmaceutical companies Eli Lilly and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).
Lilly Asia Ventures and GSK subsidiary SR One were joined by healthcare investment firm OrbiMed Advisors, hedge fund sponsor Cormorant Asset Management and seed stage investor SV Tech Ventures, the latter two participating as existing investors.
Founded in 2013, TP Therapeutics is a clinical-stage oncology specialist developing precision drugs to treat cancer and other diseases. Its lead program, TPX-0005, is an investigative drug that impedes abnormal forms of particular proteins associated with cancer tumours.
The series C capital will be partially used to fund continue development of TPX-0005 on treating naive or resistant patients with abnormal genes, and several other preclinical pipeline projects will also benefit from the proceeds.
SR One partner Simeon George joined TP Therapeutics’ board of directors in conjunction with the round, as did OrbiMed general partner Carl Gordon and LAV partner Hongbo Lu.
TP Therapeutics had previously raised $18m from 26 undisclosed investors in March 2016 after securing $1.4m in funding two years earlier, according to regulatory filings.