Pfizer and Merck's corporate venturing vehicles have contributed to small-molecule oncology treatment developer Storm Therapeutics' series A round.

UK-based small-molecule drug developer Storm Therapeutics raised £12m ($16m) yesterday in a series A round that included pharmaceutical companies Merck KGaA and Pfizer.

The corporates, which took part in the round through corporate venturing subsidiaries Merck Ventures and Pfizer Venture Investments, invested alongside Imperial Innovations and Cambridge Innovation Capital.

Spun out of Cambridge University’s Gurdon Institute as Iceni Therapeutics, Storm is working on cancer treatments that target RNA-modifying enzymes. RNA is the template for the synthesis of proteins and an…