BlueWhale Bio, a Philadelphia, PA-based new company spun out of the University of Pennsylvania to overcome key bottlenecks in cell and gene therapy manufacturing, raised $18M in funding.
The round was led by Danaher Ventures LLC, the corporate venture subsidiary of Danaher Corporation, with a syndicate of life science investors including Novalis LifeSciences and Marshall Wace, amongst others.
The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and its R&D sector.
Led by CEO Peter Keller, BlueWhale Bio is advancing a technology platform that aims to bring cell and gene therapy benefits to patients faster and at lower cost.
Its science team is led by world-renowned immunotherapy pioneers Carl June and James Riley of University of Pennsylvania.
The company emerged from the Danaher Ventures Pioneer Program, which creates companies in partnership with technology founders with the goal of developing and commercializing products and services for scientific research and improve lives on a global scale. Through the Pioneer Program, founders and their startups may access the investing and company-building experience of the Danaher Ventures team as well as Danaher’s research, product development and commercial expertise.
The University of Pennsylvania has granted an option to BlueWhale Bio to enter into a license for rights to certain Penn intellectual property. Dr. June and Dr. Riley are consultants for and hold equity in BlueWhale Bio and may receive future financial consideration and sponsored research funding from BlueWhale Bio.
FinSMEs
08/09/2023