Recursion reconciles $121m

Recursion Pharmaceuticals, a US-based biotech discovery platform and drug developer spun out of University of Utah, closed a $121m series C round yesterday featuring University of Minnesota and Texas Tech University System.
The round was led by investment firm Baillie Gifford’s Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, and also featured Mubadala Ventures, the venture fund established by telecoms firm SoftBank and Abu Dhabi state investment firm Mubadala.
Venture firms Lux Capital, Data Collective (DCVC), and Obvious Ventures also took part in the transaction, as did Two Sigma Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Epic Ventures, Menlo Ventures, AME Cloud Ventures and CRV.
Founded in 2013, Recursion is developing biopharmaceutical therapies for rare diseases identified by using its artificial intelligence-driven drug discovery platform, which relies on an algorithm that matches genotypes and other disease-flags with specific indications.
Recursion’s in-house drug pipeline includes clinical-stage programs for cerebral cavernous malformation, where abnormal blood vessels cluster in the brain, and for neurofibromatosis type 2, a genetic condition characterised by non-cancerous tumour growths in the nerves.
The company also has a drug discovery alliance in place with pharmaceutical firm Takeda, which has picked up options on certain pre-clinical candidates identified through Recursion’s technology.
Recursion will prioritise its internal programs but will leverage external partnerships to build its portfolio in areas other than rare disease, such as immuno-oncology, aging and inflammation.
The series C cash will fund further improvements to Recursion’s drug discovery platform, with a focus on capabilities such as chemical entity chemistry and pharmacology safety prediction.
Recursion has now raised a total of $221.5m in equity and debt financing, including a $20.5m debt facility secured in June 2018 from Square 1 Bank, a division of financial services Pacific Western Bank.
Mubadala featured in a $60m series B round the previous year, which was led by DCVC and also included Lux Capital, Obvious, Advantage Capital, Felicis, Epic Ventures, AME, Menlo Ventures, CRV, Two Sigma and High-Value Angel Investors.
Recursion had previously received $15m in a Lux Capital-led series A round in February 2017 backed by Obvious, DCVC, Epic, AME, Wild Basin and assorted angel investors.
The series A complemented a $4m debt contribution from Square 1 Bank, after an earlier two-tranche seed round had raised $3.5m in debt in 2015, according to securities filings, with a December 2015 close led by Advantage Capital raising $2.7m.