Anaphore, Inc Receives $8M Financing
Tuesday April 15, 9:00 am ET
SAN DIEGO -- Anaphore Inc, a newly-formed protein therapeutics company located in San Diego, California, today announced an $8 Million financing round from 5AM Ventures and Versant Ventures. Richard Ulevitch, Ph.D., a Venture Partner with 5AM Ventures, co-founder of Anaphore and former Chairman of the Department of Immunology of the Scripps Research Institute, stated, “The 5AM Ventures investment represents our belief in the significant advancements occurring in the treatment of immune-based diseases and protein therapeutics broadly.â€
Anaphore was created through the acquisition of Borean Pharma ApS, a Danish biotechnology company with both a product portfolio and technology platforms for creating improved protein therapeutics. The Danish firm spent six years establishing the technologies and therapeutic pipeline that provides the strong foundation for Anaphore. Anaphore offers technology collaborations in all therapeutic areas. Katherine Bowdish, Ph.D., a leader in protein therapeutic technologies, former President of Alexion Antibody Technologies, and Senior Vice President of Alexion Pharmaceuticals has joined as CEO. Dr. Bowdish described the platforms as “fundamental improvements in protein biologics that will be used to create new medicines with significant advantages in affinity, selectivity and pharmaceutical properties.†Anaphore’s internal product development opportunities will initially focus on immune-based diseases.
In addition to Drs. Bowdish and Ulevitch, Anaphore’s Board of Directors includes Andy Schwab (Managing Partner, 5AM Ventures), Brad Bolzon, Ph.D., (Managing Director, Versant Ventures), Phyllis Whiteley, Ph.D., (co-founder of Anaphore) and Steve Kaldor, Ph.D., (President & CEO of Ambrx, Inc.).