Quellis Biosciences Inc., a Boston, MA-based biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering best-in-class new molecules to treat serious rare diseases, emerged from stealth operations and closed a $17m Series A financing.
The round was led by the Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Fund (PXV Fund).
Founded in November 2017 by biopharma incubator Viridian LLC with seed financing from Xontogeny LLC, and led by President and founding CEO Jonathan Violin, Ph.D. and Chief Scientific Officer Vahe Bedian, Ph.D., both Partners at Viridian, Quellis Biosciences focuses on improving the lives of patients suffering from serious rare diseases by developing next-generation antibody therapies.
The company is currently optimizing several novel monoclonal antibodies targeting an undisclosed but validated mechanism of action to achieve a differentiated clinical profile for an undisclosed rare disease.
As part of these efforts, it plans to incorporate Xencor Inc.’ s Xtend® Fc technology, for which the company holds a target-exclusive license from Xencor. Xtend is a clinically proven antibody technology that provides for improved antibody half-life and thereby reduces the size and frequency of doses that patients require compared to a standard antibody drug candidate.
The Quellis Board of Directors comprises Chairman Chris Garabedian, CEO of Xontogeny and Manager, PXV Fund for Perceptive Advisors, joined by Directors Fred Callori, SVP of Xontogeny and Partner of PXV Fund and Dr. Violin.
FinSMEs
10/12/2019