The financing was led by Baker Brothers Investments, a biotechnology investor. Other investors participating in the financing include Tullis Dickerson and Four Partners.
As part of the transaction, Synageva announced that Robyn Samuels, vice president with Tisch Family Interests, has joined its board of directors representing Four Partners. Subsequent closings of additional new and existing investors representing both large private equity and venture capital funds will occur over the next few weeks. These investments will be in addition to the $30 million already raised.
This funding will be utilized to advance Synageva’s products to later stages of development in order to maximize their value for partnership discussions. Specifically, the company will be advancing three of its development programs through investigational new drug, including two novel/next generation monoclonal antibodies, and a novel protein therapeutic.
Synageva is also pursuing partnerships for the development and commercialization of the company’s later stage pipeline, in addition to collaborations with potential partner companies for producing other product candidates with favorable safety and efficacy profiles.
Sanj Patel, president and CEO of Synageva, said: “We are excited to have the backing of these equity firms, as shown by their investment in Synageva. This investment is a strong affirmation of the technological advances we have made with the Synageva Expression Platform, the potential of our development programs, and the expertise of our science and management teams.”