Aprea Therapeutics, a Sweden-based oncological drug developer spun out of Karolinska Institute, has increased its series C round to €55m ($62.8m) after securing a $5.7m contribution from unspecified funds managed by Janus Henderson Investors.
The extension follows an initial $56.8m close announced in November 2018 that was led by Redmile Group with participation from the university’s investment arm, Karolinska Development.
Rock Springs Capital, 5AM Ventures, Versant Ventures, Health Cap and Sectoral Asset Management also backed the initial series C tranche.
Founded in 2003, Aprea Therapeutics is working on small molecule drugs for cancer that restore the effectiveness of faulty p53 tumour suppressor proteins believed to be crucial in preventing the disease’s progression.
The spinout’s lead drug candidate, APR-246, is indicated for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a group of stem cell malignancies that can lead to acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), as well as for AML itself and other blood and solid tumour malignancies.
Aprea will invest the capital in continued clinical development of APR-246, having begun phase 3 studies of the drug targeting MDS and phase 1b/2 trials of an APR-246 combination therapy for high-risk MDS and oligoblastic acute AML.
The company has other studies targeting MDS and AML in progress and is also working on a “second-generation” of p53 reactivating drug candidates.
Versant and 5AM Ventures co-led Aprea Therapeutics’ $51m series B round in 2016, which Karolinska Development took part by converting $7.2m of outstanding loans. Sectoral Asset Management and HealthCap also equipped Aprea with series B capital.
The spinout, which has not disclosed details of series A funding, was one of 13 Karolinska Development-backed companies to obtain a share of $40m invested by angel networks B-to-V Partners and Rosetta Capital in 2013.
Östersjöstiftelsen, a Swedish government-founded body for Baltic and East European studies at Södertörn University, joined Praktikerinvest, a corporate venturing arm of healthcare provider Praktikertjänst, to inject an undisclosed sum into Aprea in 2005, before Swedish government-owned investment arm Industrifonden bought a stake of undisclosed size two years later.

Aprea Therapeutics, a Sweden-based oncological drug developer backed by healthcare provider Praktikertjänst, has increased its series C round to €55m ($62.8m) after securing a $5.7m contribution from unspecified funds managed by Janus Henderson Investors.

The extension follows an initial $56.8m close announced in November 2018 that was led by Redmile Group with participation from the university’s investment arm, Karolinska Development.

Rock Springs Capital, 5AM Ventures, Versant Ventures, Health Cap and Sectoral Asset Management also backed the initial series C tranche.

Spun out of Karolinska Institute in 2003, Aprea Therapeutics is working on small molecule drugs for cancer that restore the effectiveness of faulty p53 tumour suppressor proteins believed to be crucial in preventing the disease’s progression.

The spinout’s lead drug candidate, APR-246, is indicated for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a group of stem cell malignancies that can lead to acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), as well as for AML itself and other blood and solid tumour malignancies.

Aprea will invest the capital in continued clinical development of APR-246, having begun phase 3 studies of the drug targeting MDS and phase 1b/2 trials of an APR-246 combination therapy for high-risk MDS and oligoblastic acute AML.

The company has other studies targeting MDS and AML in progress and is also working on a “second-generation” of p53 reactivating drug candidates.

Versant and 5AM Ventures co-led Aprea Therapeutics’ $51m series B round in 2016, which Karolinska Development took part by converting $7.2m of outstanding loans. Sectoral Asset Management and HealthCap also equipped Aprea with series B capital.

The spinout, which has not disclosed details of series A funding, was one of 13 Karolinska Development-backed companies to obtain a share of $40m invested by angel networks B-to-V Partners and Rosetta Capital in 2013.

Östersjöstiftelsen, a Swedish government-founded body for Baltic and East European studies at Södertörn University, joined Praktikerinvest, a corporate venturing arm of Praktikertjänst, to inject an undisclosed sum into Aprea in 2005, before Swedish government-owned investment arm Industrifonden bought a stake of undisclosed size two years later.

– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.