OncoMed raises $93M in add-on funding
Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal - by Lisa Sibley
OncoMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Tuesday that it raised $93 million in a Series B funding extension, bringing the round total to $154 million.
The Redwood City clinical stage cancer stem cell company said London-based Nomura Phase4 Ventures Limited led the inside round, joined by return investors Menlo Park-based firms US Venture Partners, Bay Partners and Morgenthaler Ventures, San Francisco-based Latterell Venture Partners, The Vertical Group, which has a Palo Alto office, Adams Street Partners, which has a Menlo Park office, and Palo Alto-based DeNovo Ventures.
OncoMed also has a strategic partnership with GlaxoSmithKline plc (NYSE:GSK) that could ultimately be worth as much as $1.4 billion. OncoMed has raised $204 million to date, said Paul Hastings, OncoMed’s president and chief executive officer.
In conjunction with the financing, Dr. Denise Pollard-Knight, Nomura’s managing director, will join OncoMed’s board of directors.
Proceeds from the financing will be used to support the advancement of the company’s cancer stem cell antibody programs, including its lead compound and a second antibody, through Phase 2 clinical trials.
Cancer stem cells — a subset of cells found in tumors — have the ability to self-renew and differentiate, driving the spread, growth or recurrence of the tumor. OncoMed’s approach is to improve cancer treatment by specifically targeting the key biologic pathways critical for the activity and survival of cancer stem cells.
Hastings and Pollard-Knight spoke about the additional funding as part of a panel at the BIO Investor Forum, held Oct. 29-31 in San Francisco. Hastings described the programs the company is advancing through clinical trials as their way of ensuring they have more than one chance at success.
“We want to deliver two antibodies,” he said. “We want to have two shots on goal.”
Hastings said raising funds hasn't been easy with investors in today’s economic climate more interested in funding later-stage clinical trials.
Pollard-Knight said Nomura’s portfolio is mainly later-stage companies, with Phase 2 data on hand or entering Phase 2 trials this year.
Lisa Sibley can be reached at 408.299.1841 or lsibley@bizjournals.com.
Related Industry News |
Latest News |
Most Viewed Stories |
Most Emailed Stories |
