Biopharmaceutical company Mogrify has taken its Series A financing to £24 million after raising £12m before the second close of the round.
The Cambridge firm is aiming to transform the development of ex vivo cell therapies and pioneer a new class of in vivo reprogramming therapies.
The funding will support the advancement of Mogrify’s immuno-oncology and ophthalmology programmes, as well as continued platform development and the exploration of cell reprogramming for novel therapeutic application.
It is also aiming to address retinal degeneration, a leading cause of blindness.
The second close of the company’s Series A was led by Parkwalk Advisors and incorporates additional funding from strategic Corporate Pharma investor Astellas Venture Management as well as 24Haymarket, co-Founder of Abcam PLC, Dr Jonathan Milner, and Mogrify CEO, Dr Darrin M Disley OBE.
“We are delighted to see the continued support of our existing investors, as well as welcome new investors Astellas Venture Management and Dr Jonathan Milner, in support of the progression of our initial programs through to IND-enabling studies,” said Disley.
“Their commitment is a testament to our delivery of world-class science, expertise in cellular reprogramming and the unique potential of the MOGRIFY and epiMOGRIFY platforms to develop novel in vivo reprogramming therapies while also addressing issues of scalability and manufacturing in ex vivo cell therapies.
“This latest funding will provide runway toward a significant Series B round as we progress our lead assets toward the clinic.”
Mogrify also announced the appointments of Dr Lorenz Mayr, former CTO of GE Healthcare Life Sciences and Vice President Discovery Sciences at AstraZeneca, as Non-Executive Director, after serving as an Observer since July 2020, and Dr Hiromichi Kimura, Astellas Venture Management as an Observer.
Alastair Kilgour, Chief Investment Officer, Parkwalk Advisors, said: “Mogrify is led by a team with proven world-class commercial and scientific expertise who have made significant progress in applying the technology to drive the speed, efficiency and maintenance of cellular reprogramming.
“We are excited to continue supporting their extraordinary team as the Company progresses with increasing success in cell and gene therapy development.”