Astellas Venture Management, the corporate venturing division of Japan-based pharmaceutical company Astellas, has participated in a £3.8m ($6m) tranched equity financing for Bicycle Therapeutics, a UK-based biotherapeutics startup spun out of the UK Medical Research Council’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology in 2009. 

Return backers venture capital firm Atlas Venture, Novartis Venture Fund, the $750m corporate venturing unit of pharmaceutical firm Novartis,  SR One, the corporate venturing unit of GlaxoSmithKline, and venture firm SV Life Sciences were also involved.

Bicycle’s…