Modulus Discovery has closed a Series B funding round after raising 2.71 billion yen ($25.5 million), the preclinical-stage drug discovery company said in a statement Wednesday.
Modulus Discovery is a preclinical-stage, technology-driven drug discovery firm with offices in Tokyo and Boston.
The investors in the latest round included SBI Investments, Mizuho Capital, JAFCO, Keio Innovation Initiative, SMBC Venture Capital, The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co., UTokyo Innovation Platform, Mobile Internet Capital, Medifuture, Essential Pharma and existing shareholder FastTrack Initiative, the statement said.
The proceeds are earmarked to work on its small-molecule lead programs in oncology and inflammatory and immune disorders, and to expand its portfolio of early programs and tie-ups, which include one with strategic partner PeptiDream, Modulus Discovery said.
“To date, we have successfully identified and characterized several of our own unique lead molecules in our oncology and inflammation/immune disorder programs and we are excited to now be in a position to bring these a step closer to clinical testing through partnerships with major players in the industry,” S. Roy Kimura, co-founder and CEO of Modulus Discovery, said in the statement.
Yoshiaki Kodoi, from Mizuho Capital, said the Modulus Discovery was the first investment from his company’s new fund specializing in life sciences.
“Modulus is developing a promising business with the potential to continuously and sustainably produce multiple breakthrough drug candidates through a revolutionary approach based in part on its world-class computational drug discovery platform,” Kodoi said, citing the potential for shorter delivery times to licensing markets.
The company has raised a total of 3.51 billion yen ($33.1 million) across its Series A and B rounds, the statement said.
Modulus Discovery has previously raised 800 million yen from Peptidream, DBJ Capital and Fast Track Initiative, according to data from Crunchbase.
