US-based Moderna Therapeutics has announced the completion of a new financing round, raising $110m to develop messenger RNA Therapeutics.
In aggregate, Moderna has secured more than $415m in financing and partnerships to date from the pharmaceutical and government sectors, as well as from private investors led by founding investor Flagship Ventures.
This round of financing underscores a successful and significant year for Moderna.
Emerging from stealth mode in December 2012, the company has garnered the attention of the scientific community, and attracted growing interest in its mRNA platform in 2013 as demonstrated by:
- The completion of one of the biggest pre-clinical partnerships in biotech history with AstraZeneca, which made an upfront payment of $240M for the right to 40 drug options in cardiovascular, metabolic diseases and oncology
- The publication in Nature Biotechnology of the first peer-reviewed, scientific article describing the ability of messenger RNA Therapeutics to stimulate in vivo production of human proteins to achieve a long-term therapeutic effect
- Receipt of a grant of up to $25M from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the development of therapies to defend against infectious diseases and engineered biological threats
- Recruitment of a dozen biotech industry veterans
Moderna president and founding CEO Stephane Bancel noted the company is pleased with the confidence and enthusiasm that its investors continue to demonstrate by providing the resources to advance Moderna's clinical development platform.
"With their support, and $340 million in the bank and available now, we are working hard to deliver on the promise of messenger RNA Therapeutics to provide transformative medicines for patients.
"Given the potential of Moderna's technology to transform the treatment of a wide range of diseases, we have made the strategic decision to remain private at this time, even in the face of a favorable public market environment for biotech IPOs.
"The significant support we have received from our investor base and partners will enable us to strike the right balance between urgency and care to build a durable scientific platform and propel the field forward, without the short-term distractions that can side-track a young public company from its mission," Bancel added.
