Morphogen-IX clears path to series B round

Morphogen-IX, a UK-based developer of pulmonary arterial hypertension treatments based on University of Cambridge research, closed an £18.4m ($23.3m) series B round featuring the Cambridge Enterprise tech transfer office (TTO) yesterday.
Cambridge Innovation Capital, the patient capital fund founded by University of Cambridge, also took part in the round, which was led by life sciences-focused investment firm Medicxi.
Cambridge Enterprise Seed Funds was mentioned in the announcement, but it was unclear whether Cambridge Enterprise had invested through the vehicle.
Founded in 2015, Morphogen is developing drugs intended to combat pulmonary arterial hypertension, a condition that causes the walls in the pulmonary arteries in the heart to become rigid and difficult for blood to pass through.
The company hopes to reengineer a growth factor class known as bone morphogenetic protein 9 (BMP9) to reinforce blood vessels in the lung without inducing unwanted bone growth.
The capital will support formal preclinical activities for Morphogen’s lead candidate, a protein-engineered form of BMP9 dubbed MGX292 that is expected to enter clinical studies by 2021.
Morphogen’s founding research was directed by Nick Morrell, a professor of cardiopulmonary medicine at Imperial College London’s Department of Medicine, whose laboratory is funded by the British Heart Foundation charity.
The company raised $2.1m in a 2016 seed round led by founding investor Index Ventures, the venture capital firm that later spun out Medicxi. Cambridge Enterprise Seed Funds and Cambridge Innovation Capital both took part in that round, but Morphogen has not revealed series A funding.
Medicxi partner Kevin Johnson said: “MGX292 has the potential to transform the outlook for patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. We look forward to executing the next phases of development as efficiently and quickly as possible.”