Biotech firm Synthego raises $200mn in funding from Softbank, others

Biotechnology firm Synthego said on Thursday it had raised $200m in a late-stage funding round led by hedge fund Perceptive Advisors, with participation from SoftBank Vision Fund 2.

The California-based company, which uses machine learning, automation and gene editing to accelerate drug development, did not disclose the valuation at which the latest funds were raised.

Other investors in the Series E round included venture capital firms Moore Strategic Ventures, Declaration Partners, Laurion Capital Management, Logos Capital, GigaFund and Chimera Investments.

Get the week’s top news delivered directly to your inbox – Sign up for our newsletter

Sign up

The company said it would use the funds for the creation of a cell and gene therapy discovery and development ecosystem to help researchers fast track the translation of new discoveries into therapeutics for serious diseases.

It will also invest in the development of CRISPR technology, a gene-editing tool that allows scientists to rewrite the genetic code in almost any organism, Synthego said. The technique’s real world applications include the curing of genetic diseases and creating drought-resistant crops.

Synthego joins a host of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies that have raised fresh capital or filed to go public at high valuations as the COVID-19 pandemic helped healthcare firms take center stage.

In December, biotech firm Freenome raised $300m in a late-stage funding round led by Perceptive Advisors and hedge fund RA Capital Management. read more

Last year, Synthego had raised $100m in a Series D round which drew investments from venture capital firms Wellington Management, Intel Capital and Menlo Ventures.

Source: Reuters

Can’t stop reading? Read more