Protagonist Therapeutics, a Queensland University spin-out based in the US, has secured $40m in series C backing.
The round was led by Canaan Partners, which was joined by fellow new investors Adage Capital Management, RA Capital Management, and Foresite Capital. All of the company’s existing companies, which include Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation and Lilly Ventures, the corporate venture capital arms of pharmaceutical firns Johnson & Johnson and Eli Lilly, respectively.
Protagonist has now raised $67m in total. Last year, the Queensland firm raised $18m over two tranches in its series B, and raised $9m in its 2006 series A.
The company is developing PTG-100, its drug candidate for inflammatory bowel diseases – a range of conditions affecting the gastrointestinal tract including Crohn’s disease. The latest round of funding will be used to bring PTG-100 to human trials.
Dinesh Patel, CEO of Protagonist, said: “We are pleased with the strong support received from a broad cross section of high quality investors in this financing, which has allowed us to create a well-balanced syndicate and will enable us to advance our key programs into the clinic. This event highlights the evolution of Protagonist’s technology platform as its assets progress from discovery to clinical development, as exemplified by our first oral peptide drug candidate PTG-100.”
