Pharmaceutical Business review

Apellis raises $47m to advance immunotherapy programs

Cormorant Asset Management, Hillhouse Capital Group and venBio Global Strategic Fund led the Series D preferred-stock financing.

Existing investors Morningside Venture Investments, AJU IB Investment, and Epidarex Capital also participated in the round.

Apellis will use the money to advance its immunotherapy programs such as paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria and geographic atrophy, an advanced form of dry type age-related macular degeneration, as well as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals founder and CEO Cedric Francois said: "Our unique approach to broadly inhibit complement C3, the central protein in the complement cascade, is designed to significantly transform the treatments of patients with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

"This financing allows us to advance our broad pipeline, resulting in up to three clinical programs by the end of 2016."

Apellis, which was founded in 2009, is developing product candidates that act against the complement system at the level of C3 to block effects of the complement cascade.

The company’s product candidates could effect disease control and disease modification by inhibiting C3.

Earlier this month, Apellis withdrew its plans for an IPO, which was filed last year with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to raise $86m.

The company raised a $33m C round in late 2014, led by Morningside.