US-based immuno-oncology drug developer Xilio Therapeutics has completed a $95m series C round featuring Takeda Ventures and MRL Ventures Fund, which invested on behalf of pharmaceutical firms Takeda and Merck & Co.
Hedge fund manager Rock Springs Capital led the round, which included Bain Capital Life Sciences, a vehicle for private equity firm Bain Capital, in addition to Deerfield Management, RA Capital Management, Atlas Venture, SV Health Investors and RiverVest Venture Partners.
Formerly known as Akrevia Therapeutics, Xilio is developing immunotherapies to treat cancer. It has four product candidates in its pipeline and will put part of the funding towards advancing two of them – XTX202 and XTX101 – through preclinical studies and into clinical testing.
Takeda Ventures led a series B round sized at almost $101m for the company in March 2020 that also featured MRL Ventures Fund, M Ventures and Ipsen Ventures, the last two of which were subsidiaries of pharmaceutical companies Merck Group and Ipsen respectively.
The round included investment and financial services group Fidelity’s F-Prime Capital unit, Atlas Venture, SV Health Investors, RiverVest, Bay City Capital and Aju IB Investment’s Solasta Ventures subsidiary. It followed a $30m series A co-led by F-Prime Capital and Atlas Venture in 2018.
