Anchor Therapeutics has raised $10 million in the first close of what the company hopes will be a $30 million Series B round. Current investors TVM Capital, HealthCare Ventures and the Novartis Option Fund participated in the round. Anchor says it's in discussions with additional investors who may participate in the round.
Anchor Therapeutics, known until earlier this year as Ascent Therapeutics, plans to pursue Big Pharma licensing pacts and its goal of raising a $30 million Series B round. The company is developing pepducin lipopeptides that anchor in the cell membrane and target the GPCR protein, expanding on the number of GPCR drug targets and tackling particularly hard diseases. Anchor's work with the new class of drug targets inflammation, cancer, CNS disorders and cardiovascular disease.
"Our team at Anchor has made tremendous progress advancing pepducin technology and establishing preclinical proof-of-concept in multiple targets and disease areas," commented Frederick Jones, CEO of Anchor. The company didn't say what it plans to do with the funding. Anchor previously raised $19 million in 2009.
- take a look at Anchor's announcement