US-based small molecule drug developer Vividion Therapeutics closed an $82m series B round on Tuesday featuring pharmaceutical firm Celgene and life sciences and real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities.
Investment firm Nextech Invest led the round, which included financial services firm Mirae Asset Capital, BVF Partners, Casdin Capital, Mubadala Ventures, Trinitas Capital, Altitude Life Science Ventures, Arch Venture Partners, Versant Ventures and Cardinal Partners.
Alexandria Real Estate Equities took part in the round through its venture capital arm, Alexandria Venture Investments. Jakob Loven, partner at Nextech Invest, will join the Vividion board of directors following the round.
Vividion has created a platform that is used to assess drug candidates by screening small molecules against proteins in native biological systems, rather than in an artificial environment.
The company, which was spun off by medical research organisation Scripps Research Institute in 2013, focuses primarily on oncology and immunology, though it has not revealed details of the drug candidates it is developing.
Vividion had previously raised $101m from Celgene in connection with a strategic collaboration deal that was signed in March 2018.
The partnership is set to last for an initial period of four years and will see the two work on therapies for a range of serious illnesses with an unmet clinical need, focusing on oncology, inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases.
The company had already raised $50m in a 2017 series A round co-led by Arch Venture Partners and Versant Ventures that included Cardinal Partners, adding to $3.5m Vidion had secured in 2016, according to a regulatory filing, with Cardinal later identified as the investor.
Diego Miralles, Vividion’s CEO, said: “With over $165m in cash and a remarkable team, we are well positioned with substantial runway to maximise the multiple opportunities provided by our unique platform, bringing therapeutics to many patients in need.”