Anaphore, Inc. Announces $13 Million Second Closing to Series A Financing

LA JOLLA, Calif. Anaphore today announced it has raised an additional $13 million in a second closing to its Series A Preferred Stock financing announced in January 2009, bringing total proceeds to $38 million. SR One, the independent corporate venture fund of GlaxoSmithKline, Merck Serono Ventures, the strategic corporate venture fund of Merck Serono, and Aravis SA have joined Anaphore’s existing investor syndicate of 5AM Ventures, Versant Ventures, and Apposite Capital. The additional proceeds significantly extend Anaphore’s operating runway and will accelerate development of Atrimer™ drug candidates– a new class of protein therapeutics Anaphore is developing to address significant unmet medical needs for patients with serious or life-threatening diseases. Dr. Simeon George, Partner of SR One, has joined Anaphore’s Board of Directors.

Dr. George stated, “SR One, Merck Serono Ventures, and Aravis are pleased to join a distinguished group of investors and support Anaphore as it seeks to improve patient care through the development of Atrimer therapeutics, proteins which we believe are highly differentiated from existing drugs and can provide significant improvements in treating a variety of diseases.” Dr. Katherine Bowdish, Chief Executive Officer of Anaphore, stated, “We are delighted to have the backing of these experienced biotechnology investors and look forward to their contribution as we pursue development of our novel therapeutics to treat critical patient needs. The additional funds will markedly enhance our efforts to rapidly progress to the clinic.”

About SR One

SR One is the corporate venture capital arm of GlaxoSmithKline. The firm invests globally in emerging life science companies that are pursuing innovative science which will significantly impact medical care. Since 1985, SR One has invested approximately $600 million in more than 130 companies. For more information please visit www.srone.com.

About Merck Serono Ventures

Merck Serono Ventures is the strategic corporate venture capital fund of Merck Serono (a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany). The fund invests in emerging biotechnology companies that have the potential to develop innovative products in Merck Serono’s core therapeutic areas, in particular neurodegenerative diseases, oncology, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, endocrinology, and fertility. For more information please visit www.merckserono.com.

About Aravis SA

Aravis is a venture capital organization investing in highly promising companies in the fields of life sciences and renewable energy. Since 1995, the Aravis team has invested over $600 million in more than 80 companies, of which several have since been sold to leading industry players. Aravis’s investment strategy in life sciences has been to invest in European, Asian and North American early stage biopharmaceutical, medical technology and biotechnology companies. For more information please visit www.aravis.ch.

About Anaphore

Anaphore is developing a new class of protein therapeutics to address significant unmet medical needs for patients with serious or life-threatening diseases. Our novel Atrimer™ drug candidates are engineered from a fully human serum protein that is naturally secreted as a trimeric structure of approximately 60 kilodaltons. Anaphore’s proprietary TrimerX™ protein engineering platform provides multiple approaches to generate Atrimer protein therapeutics with biological, manufacturing and commercial advantages over traditional drugs such as antibodies, smaller protein scaffolds, and small molecules. Atrimer protein therapeutics and the TrimerX platform are protected by significant intellectual property including over thirteen patent families. Since its founding in 2008 Anaphore has raised $38 million in financing from top-tier biotechnology investors 5AM Ventures, Versant Ventures, Apposite Capital, SR One, Merck Serono Ventures, and Aravis SA. For more information please visit www.anaphoreinc.com.

Source: Anaphore, Inc.