Lyell Immunopharma co-led a series A round for the gene therapy developer, which partially exploits UW research.
Outpace Bio, a US-based smart cell therapy developer partially based on research at University of Washington, completed a $30m series A round yesterday backed by WRF Capital, the early-stage investment unit of commercialisation firm Washington Research Foundation.
Cellular therapy developer Lyell Immunopharma and venture capital firm Artis Ventures co-led the round, which also attracted Abstract Ventures, Civilization Ventures, Mubadala Capital, Playground Global and Sahsen Ventures.
Outpace is working on synthetic proteins using its own biological software and hardware, and is initially focusing on ultra-specific T cell therapies for solid tumours.
The company was formed by Marc Lajoie and Scott Boyken, co-founders of Lyell Immunopharma, together with a scientific team from the company. Its technology partially stems from research at David Baker’s lab at University of Washington.
Rick Klausner, co-founder and chairman of Lyell Immunopharma, said: “Outpace’s technology holds promise to enable the efficacy of this cytokine without the toxicity. Outpace’s approach is unique in its ability to directly modulate this biology, and we look forward to working with them.”
– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global Corporate Venturing.
