Immunotherapy spinout Annexon Biosciences collected funding from Novartis Venture Fund in a series C round that brought its total funding to $154m.

Annexon Biosciences, a US-based immunotherapy developer spun out from Stanford University, closed a $75m series C round on Wednesday backed by Novartis Venture Fund, the corporate venturing vehicle for pharmaceutical firm Novartis. Bain Capital Life Sciences, a subsidiary of private equity firm Bain Capital, led the round, which included Surveyor Capital, Adage Capital Partners, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Satter Investment Management and Blackstone Life Sciences, a subsidiary of investment firm Blackstone. Founded in 2011, Annexon is an immunotherapy developer targeting autoimmune, neurodegenerative and ophthalmic conditions that may result from a disruption in an immune mechanism known as the classical complement pathway. The capital will support clinical development of Annexon’s two lead candidates: ANX007 IVT for ophthalmic conditions and ANX005 for autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases, including proof-of-concept studies due to report back in 2019. Proceeds from the round will also fund work on additional therapies for autoimmune and neurodegenerative indications. Ricky Sun, a partner at Bain Capital Life Sciences, has joined Annexon’s board of directors. Annexon previously closed an NEA-led $44m series B round in 2016 featuring Novartis Venture Fund, Satter Investment Management, venture capital firm Correlation Ventures and Clarus, the life sciences-focused investment firm that agreed to be acquired by Blackstone in October 2018. Novartis had led Annexon’s $34m series A-1 round two years previously,  investing with Clarus and Satter Investment, after Annexon had secured $1m of seed equity from undisclosed backers in 2011 according to a regulatory filing.

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