Cerulean Pharma Inc., a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based designer and developer of nanopharmaceuticals, has closed a $15m Series D financing.
Backers include new investor, CVF, LLC, an affiliate of Henry Crown and Company of Chicago, Illinois, as well as existing investors Polaris Venture Partners, Venrock, Lilly Ventures, Lux Capital, and Bessemer Venture Partners.
In conjunction with the closing of the financing, Robert Paull, a co-founder and managing partner at Lux Capital, has joined the company’s board of directors as the director designated jointly by Lux Capital and CVF, LLC.
Led by President and CEO Oliver Fetzer, Ph.D., Cerulean is a clinical-stage company specializing in the design and development of nanopharmaceuticals optimized to make drugs more effective and with fewer side effects.
The company intends to use the capital to complete a randomized Phase 2 trial of its CRLX101 in non-small cell lung cancer, and to support several investigator-sponsored CRLX101 Phase 2 trials in additional indications at leading academic medical centers.
Additionally, Cerulean’s docetaxel nanopharmaceutical candidate will be advanced into clinical trials, and the company will aggressively pursue other platform expansion opportunities, including the delivery of RNA-based therapeutics.
FinSMEs
15/12/2011