Biolex Therapeutics has closed on $30 million in Series C venture financing.
The biopharmaceutical company, which is developing therapeutic products based antibodies developed through patented technology, has now raised nearly $100 million in venture funding since its launch in 1997.
The round was oversubscribed, meaning investors put more money into the firm than management had intended to raise.
"The response to this financing was outstanding and we believe that the additional expertise and resources of our new investors will complement the strong investor group that has supported the advancement of Biolex to date," said Jan Turek, chief executive officer of Biolex, in a statement.
The financing includes three new investors: Investor Growth Capital, JP Morgan Securities and Easton Capital. As part of the deal, Sunny Sharma, a vice president at Investor Growth Capital, joined the Biolex board.
Intersouth Partners, a longtime investor in Biolex, also participated in the round. Other firms joining the deal were Quaker BioVentures, Polaris Venture Partners, Mitsui& Co. Venture Partners, Johnson & Johnson development Corporation and Dow Venture Capital.
Biolex will use the funds to help develop drug candidates, including its lead compound in Phase II clinical trials. The drug, called Locteron, is an intended treatment for hepatitis C.
The funding comes only two weeks after Biolex landed two major development contracts with other firms.
Biolex is working with Genmad A/S, a developer of antibodies, to evaluate whether Biolex’s technology can be used for new antibody manufacturing. Genmab is developing a new class of antibodies. The company is based in Denmark.
Biolex also recently announced a contract with Merial Limited to develop animal health products such as vaccines.
Biolex uses the aquatic plant known as Lemna in its proprietary LEX System production process.
The company closed on $36 million in financing in 2005.
