ESBATech rounds up $22M in second round

Switzerland's ESBATech has garnered $22 million in an extended Series B round. The money goes to expand its pipeline and advance the biotech's work developing antibody fragment therapies. SV Life Sciences, Clarus Ventures, HBM BioVentures, HBM BioCapital, Novartis Bioventures, BioMedinvest and VI Partners all joined the round. The developer originally closed its Series B with $49 million in 2006.

"We are delighted to announce the expansion of our proprietary pipeline with this additional financing," said CEO Dominik Escher, Ph.D. "This includes building broad franchises in ophthalmology, rheumatology and respiratory diseases for ESBA105 and additional antibody fragments. Since the announcement of the Series B financing in August 2006, ESBATech has made significant progress in R&D, including the demonstration in animal models that high concentrations of ESBA105 can be achieved in all segments of the eye with topical delivery via eye drops."

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