GV and Illumina Ventures returned to reinvest in cellular therapy developer SQZ Biotechnologies, an MIT spinout that has now raised at least $166m to date.
SQZ Biotechnologies, a US-based cellular vaccine developer spun out of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, closed a $65m series D round on Monday that included GV and Illumina Ventures, respective investment subsidiaries of internet technology conglomerate Alphabet and genomics technology producer Illumina.
The round was led by Singaporean government-owned investment firm Temasek and also featured NanoDimension, Polaris Partners, an unnamed US-based fund and JDRF T1D Fund, which is managed by diabetes-focused charity JRDF.
Founded in 2013, SQZ is working on cell therapies that exploit the body’s immune system to fight diseases.
The series D proceeds will enable the company, which has so far focused on cancer and autoimmune diseases, to expand its cellular vaccine development platform into infectious diseases. It will also begin work on a point-of-care system that could allow treatments to be generated in clinics.
SQZ completed a $72m series C round in 2018…
Thierry Heles
Thierry Heles is the editor of Global University Venturing, host of the Beyond the Breakthrough interview podcast and responsible for the monthly GUV Gazette (sign up here for free).
