US-based biotechnology company Viamet Pharmaceuticals has raised $60m in a series D round which included the corporate venturing units of pharmaceutical companies Novartis, Astellas and Eli Lilly.
The round came after Viamet cancelled its plans to go public in a $75m initial public offering, for which the company filed in July this year.
Novartis Venture Funds, Lilly Ventures and Astellas Venture Management were joined by Brandon Point Industries, Woodford Investment Management, Lurie Holdings, Intersouth Partners and Hatteras Venture Partners also took part in the round.
The capital will be used accelerate the development of therapeutics through Viamet’s Metallophile antifungal treatment platform.
Following the round, Viamet is set to spin out a separate company, Innocrin, as a vehicle for its prostate cancer programme.
Robert Schotzinger, president and chief executive of Viamet, said: “This financing will provide resources to advance a new lead series for other invasive fungal infections, while also fully exploiting the power of our Metallophile platform to discover, optimise and develop novel compounds for a multitude of additional therapeutic indications.”
Viamet has now raised over $155m since it was founded in 2011. As of July, Novartis Venture Fund was the company’s largest shareholder, owning a 25.1% share.