US-based pharmaceutical company Virobay has raised $8m in the second tranche of its series B round including TPG Biotechnology Partners, the life science venture unit of private equity firm TPG, and biopharmceutical research company Abbvie..
The round also featured return backers venture capital firm Alta Partners, private equity firm Sutter Hill Venture and healthcare fund Perceptive Advisors.
Virobay has now raised $18m in its series B round, having secured the first $10m in June 2010 from Sutter Hill and Alta Partners. It previously received $300,000 in debt financing in January 2010 and $31.5m from TPG, Alta and Sutter Hill in 2006 according to an SEC filing.
The funds secured in the latest round will allow Virobay to accelerate its clinical programmes and further develop its lead product VB-036, a treatment for neuropathic pain.