Illumina Ventures has led a series A round for SerImmune, which will use the funding to enhance its immune system mapping platform.
SerImmune, a US-based developer of mapping technology for the immune system based on University of California (UC), Santa Barbara research, has raised $8m in a series A round.
The round was led by Illumina Ventures, an independently-managed venture capital fund backed by genomics company Illumina, and included pharmaceutical company Merck & Co, through an unnamed subsidiary, and undisclosed additional investors.
SerImmune has built a system that can map the human immune system to help with the development of therapeutic or diagnostic products.It is based on research by Patrick Daugherty, who was a professor of chemical engineering, and biomolecular science and engineering at UC Santa Barbara until last year.
Daugherty is now president and chief scientific officer of SerImmune. He previously co-founded immuno-oncology company CytomX Therapeutics, which is now listed on Nasdaq.
The spinout will use the money to expand its technology platform and antibody database while building strategic partnerships.
Nick Naclerio, founding partner of Illumina Ventures, said: “The platform will provide new insights into the antigens and environmental factors involved in human disease, enabling more sensitive and precise diagnostic tests, new vaccines and more targeted biopharmaceuticals.
“This fits our strategy of investing in great teams that are pioneering new applications of NGS [next-generation sequencing] alongside other strong syndicate partners.”
– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site Global Corporate Venturing.
