San Diego biotech aTyr Pharma just closed out an impressive $76 million, with a large chunk of it purportedly raised by an undisclosed, large institutional investor and Soffinova Ventures.
Back at the JP Morgan conference in January, I heard talk of its forthcoming plans to go public – specifically, a “Hey, John, ready for that IPO?” when I was walking through Union Square. This hefty new round is a keen indicator that my ears did not deceive me – despite a lack of comment from aTyr back then. In any case, isn’t this what most well-funded biotechs set out to do?
Other new investors include T. Rowe Price Associates, Federated Investors, Deerfield, Rock Springs Capital Management, EcoR1 Capital, Sphera Global Healthcare and two other undisclosed investors.
When Investment Rhymes with Canada
Canada has a proud history of achievement in the areas of science and technology, and the field of biomanufacturing and life sciences is no exception.
Another sign for pending IPO – large institutional investors.
The startup’s using the funding to advance its lead program, a physiocrine-based drug called Resolaris, through clinical trials. It’s being used in a Phase 1b/2 trial for patients with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy.
aTyr’s platform works by promoting homeostasis in the body – using these physiocrine proteins to modulate the immune system more naturally. This, it says, may provide advantages over engineered immuno-suppressive therapeutics in terms of patient outcomes and side effects.
[Image courtesy of Flickr user Simon Cunningham]
