Viela Bio, a US-based inflammation and autoimmune disease drug developer backed by corporate-founded investment firm 6 Dimensions Capital, completed a $75m series B round on Monday.
The round was led by investment firm HBM Healthcare Investments and included investment bank Goldman Sachs, Temasek, Viking Global Investors, Terra Magnum Capital Partners, Barer and Son Capital, Cormorant Asset Management and unnamed existing investors.
Founded in 2018 by pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca, Viela Bio is advancing drug candidates to treat severe autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
The company’s lead drug candidate, Inebilizumab, targets severe episodic inflammations of the optic nerve known as neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder.
Viela Bio’s drugs will target pathways considered critical to the body’s immune response, including antibodies that release pro-inflammatory mediators, as well as mechanisms situated on the surface of immune system T-cells.
The round will precede Viela Bio’s application for a biologics licence from the US Food and Drug Administration covering Inebilizumab’s development, and the startup will use some of the series B proceeds in a bid to find additional disease targets for the program.
The funding will also fund work on the other assets in Viela Bio’s portfolio, which include two clinical-stage and two research-stage drugs, all of which are intended to target autoimmune disease.
The series B round brings Viela Bio’s funding total to above $300m, it said. The startup secured up to $250m in a March 2018 series A round co-led by 6 Dimensions Capital, which was co-founded by pharmaceutical company WuXi AppTec.
Temasek, Sirona Capital, Boyu Capital and Hillhouse Capital also took part in the series A round, after which AstraZeneca remained Viela Bio’s largest minority shareholder.