Pharmasset, a six-year-old pharmaceutical firm with two anti-AIDS drugs in Phase II trials, has closed on $40 million in Series D financing.
Burrill & Company led the round along with MDS Capital, a new investor.
Other investors included CDIB Bioscience Ventures, MPM Capital and Techno Venture Management.
The company raised $3.91 million in 1999, a round for an undisclosed amount in 2000, and another $7.4 million in 2001.
As part of the investment, G. Steven Burrill, the founder and CEO of Burrill & Company, joins the Pharmasset board.
“Pharmasset will use the proceeds of this investment to continue advancing our clinical programs, supporting discovery research, and expanding the company’s infrastructure,” said P. Schaefer Price, who joined Pharmasset as its president and CEO in June, in a statement. Price was executive in residence at Bay City Capital before taking the position.
The firm’s AIDS drugs are Reverset and Racivir. Reverset is in a Phase II b trial, and Pharmasset received a milestone payment from its partner, Incyte, when that occurred earlier this year.
Pharmasset is working on a variety of other drugs to combat viruses and cancer. It has received numerous federal grants in support of its research.
“Pharmasset has built an impressive drug pipeline,” Burrill said in a statement, “and the company’s achievements to date set the stage for future success.”
A team academic scientists founded Pharmasset in 1998. They are:
Pharmasset: www.pharmasset.com
