The University College London gene therapy spinout has completed a series B round backed by the institution's UCL Technology Fund.
Orchard Therapeutics, a UK-based genetics spinout from University College London (UCL), closed an oversubscribed $110m series B round today with contributions from UCL and Singaporean state-owned investment firm Temasek.
The round was co-led by investment firm Baillie Gifford and venture capital fund Ori Capital. UCL took part through UCL Technology Fund, which was established to invest in commercial opportunities derived from the university’s research.
F-Prime Capital, a branch of financial services group Fidelity International, also contributed to the round, as did Cowen Healthcare Investments, Juda Capital, Pavilion Capital, RTW Investments, Agent Capital and 4Bio Capital.
Orchard is working on gene therapies for diseases such as adenosine deaminase severe combined immunodeficiency (Ada-Scid), an inherited disorder that compromises the immune system.
The spinout plans to reengineer stem cells taken from Ada-Scid patients into healthy specimens. The corrected cells would then be reinserted into their bodies.
The cash will be used to advance Orchard’s assets, including a lead gene therapy dubbed OTL-101 that is in late-stage clinical development, and which is being developed to tackle Ada-Scid.
Simone Song, senior partner at Ori Capital, has taken a seat on Orchards’ board of directors. Orchard was spun off from UCL’s Institute of Child Health in May 2016 as a partnership between UCL’s tech transfer office, UCL Business, and F-Prime Capital.
F-Prime had led a $30m series A round for Orchard in May 2016 with commitments from UCL Business, UCL Technology Fund and the EU-backed European Investment Fund.
Mark Rothera, chief executive of Orchard, said: “This financing further empowers Orchard to deliver on our vision to be a leading, global, fully-integrated company that transforms the lives of patients through innovative gene therapy.
“In collaboration with our stakeholders, we are committed to translating our outstanding clinical data into therapies for patients with the greatest need, as quickly as possible.”