Zurich immuno-oncology spinout Anaveon raised $35.1m from Novartis Venture Fund and Syncona in addition to seed-stage notes converted by the UZH Life Sciences Fund.
Anaveon, a Switzerland-based immunooncology spinout of University of Zurich (UZH), raised CHF35m ($35.1m) yesterday in a series A round backed by pharmaceutical developer Novartis’s Venture Fund.
Life sciences-focused investment firm Syncona led the round, which also includes converted seed-stage notes bought previously by UZH Life Sciences Fund.
Syncona, which owns a 47% stake in Anaveon following the transaction, counts research charities Wellcome Trust and Cancer Research UK among its investors.
Founded in December 2017, Anaveon is working on cancer therapies that rely on a signalling protein called interleukin-2 (IL-2) to stimulate the patient’s immune system so that it can recognise and destroy cancer cells.
IL-2 treatments have already been approved for metastatic melanoma and renal cancer, so the mechanism is not new, but Anaveon hopes to address drawbacks with the approach such as toxicity and abbreviated effectiveness during repeat doses.
The company was co-founded by…
