Star Therapeutics raises $200M to take new biologics into the clinic
What's the deal? Star Therapeutics has raised $200 million in late-stage private financing to advance its pipeline of preclinical biologics into clinical trials, the South San Francisco company announced on October 23. The raise comes months after Star sold its subsidiary Vega TherapeuticsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → to Incyte for $1.26 billion up front — a deal worth up to $2 billion.
What does Star do? It discovers novel biologics and advances them within subsidiaries that have been sold to larger drugmakers. Its past wins include Vega, DICE, True North, iPierian, and Electra.
What's the endgame? Chief executive officer Adam Rosenthal said Star is not pursuing a hub-and-spoke model going forward, despite its track record of spinning out and selling drug programs. The new money is earmarked for taking its next round of biologics into the clinic.
Why it stands out: At $200 million, the round ranks in the top 4% of late-stage venture financings in its sector and geography, based on nearly 2,000 comparable deals. The scale signals investor confidence that Star can repeat its past exits.
The signal: The round lands during a busy stretch for biotech financing. The same week, Apollo Therapeutics closed a $226.5 million Series C and Nimbus Therapeutics pulled in $210 million — a sign that private backers are again writing large cheques for drug developers with proven commercial track records.
Read more: insights.citeline.com
Image credit: Star Therapeutics
