Imperial College London (ICL) oncology spinout Kesios Therapeutics has raised £19m ($28.74m) in its series A.
The round was backed by Imperial Innovations, the tech transfer company of ICL, with participation from SV Life Sciences and Abingworth.
Total funding for Kesios is now at £22.3m, which includes a £1.85m seed round led by Imperial Innovations last year. In total, the tech transfer unit now has a 42% stake in the firm. As part of the deal, former president of oncology at GlaxoSmithKline Paolo Paoletti will join Kesios as its CEO.
The company is developing therapeutics for multiple myeloma and other cancers.
Maina Bhaman, director of healthcare ventures, Imperial Innovations, said: “It is just over a year since Innovations completed a seed funding round in Kesios and in that time the company has made swift progress in building a world-class management team to advance its innovative science and drug development. The company’s lead drug candidate is about to enter clinical studies and with this substantial Series A financing behind it, this team is in a strong position to deliver a new treatment option for patients with multiple myeloma.”
