Google venture arm goes biotech in Adimab Series D

Armed with a plan to invest $100 million in the next year in the life sciences and technology, the newly-formed Google Ventures has made its first biotech investment, leading a Series D for the antibody start-up Adimab. And Managing Partner William Maris has joined the Lebanon, NH-based Adimab board.

Google may be bringing more than just its cash to the table. In a sign of Google's specific interest in biotech, Adimab relies on some powerful computational resources to whip up antibodies much more rapidly than the current standards allow. "We give you a diversity to choose from that nobody else can offer you," CEO Tillman U. Gerngross, tells Dow Jones. "In three months, you walk way with hundreds of fully human antibodies." Gerngross co-founded GlycoFi, which Merck bought for $400 million.

Google's name elicits images of vast wealth and resources, but if this first step is any indication, they're not looking to splurge. The size of the round was not disclosed, but a source told Dow Jones that the round totaled only about $13 million. The developer's previous investors--Borealis Ventures, Polaris Venture Partners, OrbiMed Advisors and SV Life Sciences--joined in.

- here's the press release for more information
- read the story from Dow Jones