Aprea appraises $56.8m series C

Aprea Therapeutics, a Sweden-based anti-cancer therapy spinout of Karolinska Institute, closed a €50m ($56.8m) series C round on Friday with investors including Karolinska Development, the university’s investment arm.
The round was led by Redmile Group with participation from Rock Springs Capital, 5AM Ventures, Versant Ventures, HealthCap and Sectoral Asset Management.
Founded in 2003, Aprea Therapeutics develops anti-cancer therapies that rejuvenate the function of faulty p53 tumour suppressor proteins.
Mutations in the protein have been linked to the progression of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a group of stem cell malignancies that can lead to acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).
Aprea’s lead asset, APR-246, will soon complete a phase 1b/2 clinical trial paired with chemotherapy drug azacitidine for high-risk MDS and oligoblastic AML prognoses, and will subsequently begin phase 3 studies targeting MDS.
Redmile Group will appoint a representative to Aprea’s board of directors in conjunction with its investment.
Aprea previously closed a $51m series B round in 2016 co-led by Versant and 5AM Ventures. Sectoral Asset Management and HealthCap also supplied series B funding, while Karolinska Development backed the round by converting $7.2m in outstanding loans.
The spinout has not disclosed details of its series A round, though it was one of 13 Karolinska Development-backed companies to have secured a share of $40m invested by angel networks B-to-V Partners and Rosetta Capital in 2013.
Aprea was backed in 2005 by Östersjöstiftelsen, a Swedish government-founded body for Baltic and East European studies at Södertörn University, and Praktikerinvest, a corporate venturing subsidiary of healthcare provider Praktikertjänst.
Swedish government-owned investment arm Industrifonden subsequently took a stake in Aprea in 2007.