Venture firms New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Perkins (KPCB) have raised $20m in a series C round for life sciences startup 3-V Biosciences.
Originally based in Zurich, Switzerland, 3-V has since relocated to Silicon Valley in 2010. The startup maintains close ties with the University of Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, the institutions of the firm’s founding scientific partners.
3-V was founded in 2007 with support from venture firms The Column Group (TCG) and KPCB. The firm has since gone on to raise a total of $70m in venture backing, including a $30m series B round in 2009 backed by TCG, NEA and KPCB. The latter two VCs then went on to support a further venture round in 2012 for an additional $20m.
Merdad Parse, chief executive of 3-V, said: “3-V takes an integrated approach to building its pipeline by applying our proprietary screening methodology combined with our expertise in medicinal chemistry, drug discovery and development to generate proprietary therapeutic candidates that target key pathways in oncology and infectious diseases. Our lead oncology candidate has demonstrated compelling anti-tumour activity in pre-IND studies and with the funds from our Series C, we look forward to advancing into the clinic later this year.”