Tobira garners $31M to advance HIV drugs

Up-start biotech Tobira Therapeutics, which is developing HIV/AIDS drugs, has raised $31 million in its first round of venture capital. Domain Associates and Frazier Healthcare Ventures led the round for Tobira, which also announced that James Sapirstein has been named CEO. Tobira is getting started on its development work with therapies licensed in from Japan's Takeda. Tobira announced that it has licensed in TAK-652 and TAK-220, CCR5 antagonists that can be administered orally and bind CCR5 receptors to interfere with the entry of the HIV-1 virus into macrophages and activated T-cells by inhibiting fusion between viral and cellular membranes.

- read the report from SoCalTech

ALSO: Princeton, NJ based Celator Pharmaceuticals has closed a $10 million follow-on round of financing from Domain Associates, Quaker BioVentures, TL Ventures, Ventures West Management, GrowthWorks Capital, the Business Development Bank of Canada and Hearthstone Investment. Release