AbbVie and Abbott-backed biotechnology developer AuraSense closed the $13.6m firs tranche of the round in June last year.
US-based biotechnology company AuraSense Therapeutics, previously backed by healthcare company Abbott Laboratories and biopharmaceutical company AbbVie, has extended its series C round to $18m.
The round initially closed at $13.6m in June 2014, and included Rathmann Family Foundation and private investors Bill Gates, Patrick Ryan, David Walt, Boon Hwee Koh and Craig Mundie. AuraSense has not disclosed which investors have backed the series C extension.
AuraSense develops therapies based on its spherical nucleic acid technology to treat diseases that have limited or no treatment options including several types of cancer.
The company’s technology is a spin-out of Northwestern University’s International Institute for Nanotechnology, and is based on research conducted by Chad Mirkin.
In 2011, Abbott Laboratories’ biotech investment arm Abbot Biotech Ventures took part in the $5.4m first tranche of series B round for AuraSense that was closed after investors including AbbVie added an undisclosed amount in 2013.
AuraSense previously raised $2.5m in a December 2009 series A round, and has also received funding from the US government’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
This article originally appeared on our sister site Global Corporate Venturing.
