In a release put out today Wugen, Inc. announced rasing $172 million in an oversubscribed Series B round. WuGen is a St. Louis based clinical stage biotechnology company developing cell therapies.
The money will support further clinical development of Wugen’s ‘memory natural killer’ cell platform and advance ongoing trials for patients with severe acute myelogenous leukemia and other oncology indications, including solid tumors. Some of the funding will also go to other thereapies to treat T-cell leukemia and lymphoma.
Dan Kemp, Wugen CEO
“The rapid growth of the company could not have happened without the commitment of RiverVest Venture Partners, and in particular the vision and leadership of John McKearn as our founding CEO,” current CEO Dan Kemp said in the statement. CrunchBase says the company has fewer than 10 employees and was founded in 2018.
This round was led by Abingworth and Tybourne Capital Management, and joined by new investors Fidelity Management and Research Company, Intermediate Capital Group, Sands Capital, Aisling Capital Management, Alexandria Venture Investments, Velosity Capital and Falcon Edge Capital. Esixting investors also participating include RiverVest Venture Partners, LYZZ Capital, and Lightchain Capital.
“This significant capital raise will enable Wugen to advance its off-the-shelf cell therapies to develop a broad and differentiated oncology pipeline,” said McKearn in a statement put out on LinkedIn by RiverVest, where he serves ad Managing Director. He is also Chairman of the Board of Directors at Wugen.
The 4thEst8 reached out to Kemp and a partner at RiverVest for comment on this story. They did not immediately return our call.
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