Storm makes $21.6m series A thunder

Storm Therapeutics, a UK-based genomics research spinout from University of Cambridge, secured £4m ($5.4m) in a series A extension yesterday from Taiho Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of drug maker Taiho Pharmaceutical.

Storm received an initial $16m series A tranche in June 2016 that included $4m each from commercialisation firm Touchstone Innovations and Cambridge Innovation Capital, a patient capital fund affiliated with the university.

Merck Ventures and Pfizer Venture Investments, respective strategic investment divisions of pharmaceutical firms Merck and Pfizer, also made $4m contributions to the first tranche.

Storm Therapeutics is developing medicines based on enzymes that modify non-coding ribonucleic acids (RNAs).

RNAs are chiefly responsible for translating genetics into the cellular biology of each human being, however non-coding occurrences can be responsible for diseases such as cancer.

Storm’s approach is based on work by Tony Kouzarides, professor of cancer biology in the Department of Pathology of Cambridge’s Gurdon Institute, and Eric Miska, a professor of molecular genetics who leads a non-coding RNA research lab in the same institution.

Storm Therapeutics had raised a seed round of undisclosed size led by Touchstone Innovations in 2015. Deals database PitchBook indicates the round brought in $780,000 and also featured Cambridge Innovation Capital along with unnamed additional investors.

Sakae Asanuma, president of Taiho Ventures, said: “We are excited to join this experienced management team and investor syndicate to help Storm Therapeutics fulfil its ambition to become the leading therapeutics company in RNA epigenetic modulation.”