Asklepios BioPharmaceutical, based on work by UNC Chapel Hill professors Jude Samulski and Xiao Xiao, has secured $235m in funding co-led by TPG Capital and Vida Ventures.
Asklepios BioPharmaceutical (AskBio), a US-based gene therapy spinout of University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, has raised $235m in funding from investors co-led by TPG Capital and Vida Ventures.
TPG and Vida provided a combined $225m, with the remaining $10m supplied by the company’s co-founders and board members.
Founded in 2001, AskBio is working on treatments for rare genetic disorders. The spinout’s approach exploits adeno-associated virus gene therapy and a cell line manufacturing process called Pro10.
AskBio has developed a large portfolio of clinical programs across more than half a dozen conditions, such as cystic fibrosis, Huntington’s disease, limb girdle muscular dystrophy and myotonic muscular dystrophy.
The spinout is based on research led by Jude Samulski, director of the Gene Therapy Center at UNC Chapel Hill. Samulski collaborated with Xiao Xiao, the Fred Eshelman distinguished professor of gene therapy in the Eshelman School of Pharmacy.
Sheila Mikhail also co-founded AskBio and served as its chief executive until 2007, before leaving to become chief executive of AskBio spinout NanoCor Therapeutics and later Bamboo Therapeutics.
Two of AskBio’s spinouts have been acquired by pharmaceutical firms. Chatham Therapeutics, which focused on treatments for haemophilia, was bought by Baxter for $70m in 2014, while Bamboo Therapeutics, which targeted rare neuromuscular disorders, was acquired by Pfizer for $150m in 2016.
The company also formed one spinout, Actus Therapeutics, in 2016 that is partially based on research by Dwight Koeberl, professor of paediatrics and a medical genetics specialist at Duke University. Actus is developing a treatment for Pompe disease.
AskBio will use the latest capital injection to advance and expand clinical trials, bolster its manufacturing capabilities and drive long-term growth.
The spinout previously obtained $1.5m in equity funding in 2006, according to a regulatory filing. Further details about the company’s funding history could not be ascertained.
