Harvard spinout Platelet BioGenesis has added $26m in series A1 financing to its coffers thanks to a consortium co-led by Ziff Capital Partners and Qiming Venture Partners USA.
Platelet BioGenesis (PBG), a US-based biotechnology spinout of Harvard University, today obtained $26m in a series A1 round co-led by Ziff Capital Partners and Qiming Venture Partners USA.
Nest.Bio Ventures and eCoast Angels also contributed to the round alongside other, unnamed backers.
Founded in 2014, PBG is working on pluripotent stem-cell derived human platelets and platelet-based treatments. Platelets are a part of the bloodstream and act as a natural form of a bandaid, being responsible for clot formation and blood vessel repair.
Platelet transfusions are common in cancer, transplant and surgery patients. While clinics are constantly in need of fresh blood donations anyway, the need for platelets is particularly acute as they are fragile and short-lived.
PBG is able to generate platelets at scale, potentially benefitting more than two million patients in the US alone.
The series A1 funding will allow PBG to accelerate the development of its manufacturing capabilities and advance its proof-of-concept work. The spinout expects to double its headcount to some 50 staff in 2020.
Steven Altschuler, managing director of healthcare ventures at Ziff, will join PBG’s board of directors. Altschuler is a co-founder of Spark Therapeutics, the gene therapy developer spun out of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia currently being acquired by pharmaceutical firm Roche for $4.3bn.
Qiming previously led a $10m series A round in June 2017, with participation from Vivo Capital, VI Ventures, Adena Partners, eCoast Angels and unspecified backers. Qiming participated through its US Healthcare Fund.
In 2014, eCoast Angels led a seed round of undisclosed size with a contribution from the Rhines Angel Fund, a student-run investment fund out of University of New Hampshire.
