PureTech, a Boston, MA-based science and technology R&D company tackling big problems in healthcare, closed a $50m growth stage investment round from existing investors.
This fundraising followed the $57m funding round of October 2014 (read here) and brought the total raised in the last four months to $107m.
The company intends to use the funds to further expand its pipeline of technologies and accelerate its maturing pipeline programs toward commercialization.
Led by Dr. Robert Langer, Co-founder, Senior Partner & MIT Institute Professor, PureTech has 12 pipeline programs and three active sourcing initiatives. Each of the company’s pipeline programs is structured as an independent corporate entity, in which PureTech typically has a majority ownership interest.
The pipeline includes companies such as:
Vedanta Biosciences, which develops microbiome derived therapies for treating infectious disease, allergies and autoimmune disorders;
Entrega, Inc., which develops a delivery platform for oral delivery of injectable drugs like insulin;
Gelesis, a clinical stage company developing a treatment that swells in the stomach and small intestine to induce weight loss and improve glycemic control;
Tal Medical, a clinical stage company focused on “rebooting” electrical circuits in the brain to treat depression;
Karuna, a clinical stage company developing a novel mechanism-of-action therapeutic for treating the devastating illness of schizophrenia;
Follica, a clinical stage company, harnessing advances in epithelial stem cell biology to develop novel treatments for baldness; and
Akili Interactive Labs, a clinical stage company developing an “electronic medicine” platform for remotely diagnosing and treating cognitive disorders like ADHD, autism spectrum disorders and Alzheimer’s disease.