US-based drug developer MyoKardia closed its series B round yesterday, raising $46m from investors including pharmaceutical company Sanofi.
Casdin Capital, Cormorant Asset Management, Perceptive Life Sciences, BridgeBio, an unnamed affiliate of Cowen Group and an undisclosed public investment fund also participated in the funding round.
MyoKardia is developing treatments for genetic heart diseases, and will use the cash injection to advance its pipeline of potential therapies for hypertrophic and dilated cardiomyopathies, diseases that affect the muscle of the heart and ultimately lead to heart failure.
Part of the series B funding will also be used to fund Phase 1 clinical trials for MYK-461, the company’s lead drug candidate for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a leading cause of death in young athletes.
Sanofi invested $45m in MyoKardia in September 2014 as part of a research and develpment deal set to run to 2018 that could be worth up to $200m.
The agreement included $10m in equity funding and a $35m up-front payment, while the remaining $155m will potentially be received in the form of milestone payments and research support.
Venture capital firm Third Rock Ventures launched MyoKardia in 2012 with $38m of series A capital, following its founding by professors of Stanford, Colorado and Harvard universities the same year.
This article first appeared on Global Corporate Venturing.
