IP Group sold a $5m stake to incoming shareholder Celltrion as part of a series A round for Iksuda, a spinout of Bath originally called Glythera.
Iksuda Therapeutics, a UK-based antibody drug conjugates developer spun out of University of Bath, has closed a $47m series A round that included a $5m stake sale by commercialisation firm IP Group to an incoming shareholder, biopharmaceutical firm Celltrion.
Celltrion co-led the round with Premier Partners, Mirae Asset and the latter’s subsidiaries.
IP Group owns a 19.4% undiluted stake in Iksuda following the deal.
Founded in 2007 as Glythera, Iksuda is working on antibody drug conjugates targeting tumours that have limited treatment options and high relapse rates. Its lead asset is aimed at B-cell lymphomas.
In addition to the original Bath research, Iksuda also licensed a tumour-activated payload platform from University of Göttingen in October last year.
It will use the series A funding to advance its lead asset into a phase 1 trial and to advance its early-stage pipeline to investigational new drug applications.
Iksuda last secured equity funding in 2013, when IP Group injected $1m. The commercialisation firm had already provided $975,000 in 2012.
