Berkeley Catalyst Fund has helped close a $90m series B round for 4D Molecular Therapeutics, which emerged out of UC Berkeley.
4D Molecular Therapeutics (4DMT), a US-based gene therapy spinout of University of California (UC) Berkeley, closed a $90m series B round yesterday featuring university venture fund Berkeley Catalyst Fund.
Pharmaceutical firms Chiesi Group and Pfizer and muscular dystrophy-focused non-profit CureDuchenne participated in the round through respective investment units Chiesi Ventures, which is managed by Pappas Capital, Pfizer Ventures and CureDuchenne Ventures.
Hedge fund Viking Global Investors led the round, which further included ArrowMark Partners, Janus Henderson Investors, Biotechnology Value Fund, MiraeAsset Financial Group, Perceptive Advisors and Ridgeback Capital Investments.
Founded in 2013, 4DMT is developing customised gene therapies that can be specifically delivered to any tissue or organ in the human body while requiring a lower dose than alternative treatments and circumventing resistance to pre-existing antibodies.
The spinout focuses on severe genetic diseases with a high unmet clinical need, with its lead candidate targeting choroideremia, a condition that leads to vision loss and primarily affects men.
4DMT is based on research by co-founder and chief scientific officer David Schaffer, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, bioengineering and neuroscience at UC Berkeley, where he also serves as director of the Berkeley Stem Cell Center.
4DMT will use the money to further develop its platform and advance its pipeline of therapeutics, including moving its treatment for choroideremia into the clinic in 2019. Tony Yao, portfolio manager at ArrowMark Partners, has joined the board of directors.
4DMT had previously received $7m and $11.6m in equity funding across two rounds that both closed in 2015, according to regulatory filings.
– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global Corporate Venturing.