Xilis Announces Series A Extension, Bringing Total Round to Over US$89 Million
Xilis, Inc., a pioneering biotechnology company developing its MicroOrganoSphere™ (MOS™) technology to guide precision therapy for cancer patients and accelerate drug discovery and development, has closed an extension of over US$19 million to its Series A financing round, bringing the total amount raised to over US$89 million. New investor FPV Ventures led the extension, with participation from fellow new investor Alexandria Venture Investments and existing investors EQT Life Sciences, Mubadala Capital Management, Pear Ventures, GV (formerly Google Ventures), the Duke Angel Network, Catalio Capital Management, Two Sigma Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Alix Ventures and other strategic partners.
“Despite unprecedented market conditions in the biotech sector, we raised this extension at a step-up valuation and from several of the most reputable global investors. Our investors are strongly encouraged by the progress we have made in building diagnostic programs that predict patient response and achieving significant traction in partnered drug discovery and development,” said Xiling Shen, PhD, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Xilis. “Our MOS technology is the first end-to-end, high-throughput patient-derived model drug discovery platform to identify drug candidates with a high probability of clinical success.”
The company will use the Series A funding to advance its proprietary MOS platform. This innovative MOS technology is the first truly scalable patient-derived model that recapitulates the tumor microenvironment and immune interactions necessary for next-generation immuno-oncology and cell therapy drug discovery. In addition, the MOS platform can be applied in a clinical setting to aid clinicians to make precision oncology treatment decisions, identifying treatments that lead to the best response for each patient.
“Xilis has pushed forward and achieved meaningful scientific breakthroughs that will change the way cancer drugs are being discovered and how patients are being selected to achieve the most optimal response – realizing the goal of personalized precision oncology,” said Wesley Chan, Co-Founder & Managing Partner of FPV Ventures. “With support from a world-class investor consortium, Xilis is set to continue its efforts in clinical diagnostics and accelerate the company’s growth by expanding its MOS technology into biopharma R&D and drug development.”
Recently, the company announced its participation in the Netherlands-based Oncode-PACT Consortium to accelerate the development of cancer drugs and was selected as the cover article/story in the June issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell highlighting its MOS technology and application in precision oncology.
"Xilis' innovative MOS technology can enable unlocking the full potential of patient-derived microtumors by accelerating their use both in the clinic and for drug discovery and development," said John de Koning, Partner at EQT Life Sciences. "Patients will benefit greatly from Xilis’ precision oncology treatment decisions by avoiding time spent on treatment cycles that are ineffective, and instead, receive therapies with the greatest potential of success quickly and efficiently."
About Xilis
Based in Durham, North Carolina, Xilis, Inc. is a biotechnology company developing a precision oncology platform that guides treatment decisions for oncologists to improve cancer care outcomes for patients and enables drug discovery and development with pharmaceutical companies. Xilis’ proprietary MicroOrganoSphere™ (MOS) technology consists of miniature patient tumors that capture the full microenvironment and heterogeneity and provides an automated and scalable solution. Using MOS and AI-driven algorithms, Xilis is developing a Xilis Response Score™ for the clinic, enabling oncologists to make informed and timely treatment decisions. Additionally, the MOS technology is speeding up the discovery and clinical development of new drug candidates.
To learn more about Xilis, visit our website at Xilis.com or follow us on LinkedIn.
About FPV
FPV is a new $450m fund focused on backing and serving mission-driven founders throughout their entire journey. Founded by Wesley Chan (Founder of Google Analytics and Google Voice) and Pegah Ebrahimi (former COO of Morgan Stanley Tech Banking and COO of Cisco Collaboration), the firm has backed well-known, high-impact startups including Canva, Flexport, Guild Education, Xilis, and Manifold Bio.
About EQT Life Sciences
EQT Life Sciences was formed in 2022 following an integration of LSP, a leading European life sciences venture capital firm, into the EQT platform. As LSP, the firm raised over EUR 3.0 billion (USD 3.5 billion) and supported the growth of more than 150 companies since it started to invest over 30 years ago. With a dedicated team of highly experienced investment professionals, coming from backgrounds in medicine, science, business, and finance, EQT Life Sciences backs the smartest inventors who have ideas that could truly make a difference for patients.
The team combines deep sector knowledge, analytical skills, and investment experience to provide the added value that inventors seek. EQT Life Sciences’ broad life sciences and healthcare network is highly complementary to EQT’s global healthcare sector franchise and makes EQT an even better and more innovative healthcare investor. More info: www.eqtgroup.com/lifesciences
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220713005121/en/
Contact information
Michelle Linn
Bioscribe, Inc.
774-696-3803
michelle@bioscribe.com
About Business Wire
Business Wire(c) 2018 Business Wire, Inc., All rights reserved.
Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is the global leader in multiplatform press release distribution.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
IFF Reports Second Quarter 2022 Results8.8.2022 22:21:00 CEST | Press release
International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE: IFF) reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022. Management Commentary "We continued to execute on our near-term operational priorities to achieve strong top and bottom-line results in the second quarter," said IFF CEO Frank Clyburn. "Our teams have acted with urgency to implement necessary pricing actions in collaboration with our customers and delivered productivity benefits that offset on-going inflationary pressures. Going forward, we are preparing for more uncertain market conditions, yet remain confident in delivering our full year financial objectives. At the same time, we are advancing our strategic efforts, deploying innovation, refining our portfolio and strengthening our culture to deliver strong value creation for all our stakeholders. Reflecting our confidence, we are pleased to announce that we are raising our quarterly dividend. This marks thirteen years of consecutive dividend increases and unders
Waldom Electronics Announces New Advisory Board8.8.2022 20:30:00 CEST | Press release
Waldom Electronics is excited to announce the launch of its Advisory Board comprised of recognized leaders who will bring their knowledge and experience to the company. The Advisory Board will work closely with Don Akery, Waldom’s Chief Executive Officer, to help maximize performance with special focus on long term strategy. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220805005440/en/ Kevin Rock (Photo: Business Wire) Waldom’s Chairman, Jamil Nizam stated, “In order to build on our significant growth over the last several years, I have been working diligently to create a world-class Advisory Board. I am thrilled to have assembled this board of exceptional individuals who will bring their skills, experience and objectivity to help Waldom realize its goals, vision and mission.” Waldom welcomes the following members to its Advisory Board: - Kevin Rock, Former President of TE Connectivity’s Industrial Solutions Segment with o
Sermo Barometer Reveals Growing Concern Among Global Physicians Regarding Monkeypox8.8.2022 16:00:00 CEST | Press release
With the spread of monkeypox on the rise and the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring a global health emergency, findings from a recent survey conducted by Sermo, a physician-first online community and leader in global HCP insights, show there is high concern about public misinformation spreading. The survey also found that while 71% of respondents would recommend vaccination as a preventative measure to a patient who was concerned about contracting monkeypox, 65% of doctors say their country does not have enough vaccines. The barometer survey included 1,011 physician respondents from 20 countries, with key findings including: Concerns About Misinformation Seventy-eight percent of physician respondents are concerned about the spread of monkeypox misinformation and 60% are concerned that monkeypox is being categorized incorrectly as a sexually transmitted disease, such as syphilis or HPV. Based on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, 36% feel public health authorities should priorit
Advent Technologies and the Greek Natural Gas Company, DEPA Commercial, sign MoU to collaborate on Hydrogen Projects8.8.2022 15:00:00 CEST | Press release
Advent Technologies Holdings, Inc., an innovation-driven leader in the fuel cell and hydrogen technology space, today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding ("MoU") with DEPA Commercial S.A., the leading importer of pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) in Greece to enter into a strategic collaboration on hydrogen projects of common interest. The MoU sets out the framework for a forthcoming mutually binding agreement. The parties have preliminarily agreed to the following actions: Collaborate on the production of environmentally friendly hydrogen as a fuel with the participation of other major industrial partners. Co-develop a proprietary and highly differentiated CHP system ready for mass production with efficiency approaching 90% and with multi-fuel operating capabilities (hydrogen, natural gas, efuels) that can address the key current, future, and on-grid, off-grid operation modes and business cases. Create an innovation hub for the Greek hydrogen and fuel c
Pharma Tech Holdings SA Obtains a Capital Commitment Agreement of CHF 30 million from Global Investor LDA Capital8.8.2022 10:50:00 CEST | Press release
Pharma Tech Holding SA (“PTH”) announced today it has secured a CHF 30 million investment to support its portfolio investments from LDA Capital Ltd, a global investment group with expertise in cross border transactions including the agriculture, Agri-tech, and CBD industries. Established in 2019, PTH is a Swiss based holding company, which invests into innovative businesses with high technological value and scalability potential, mainly in Switzerland and Europe, with a focus on the health-tech, Agri-tech, and functional food. This investment will allow PTH to mainly invest and support its portfolio company Blue Sky Swisse SA (“BSS”) a JV between PTH and listed company IGEA PHARMA NV (“Igea”), IGPH - ISIN NL0012768675. BSS focuses on the extraction of natural active principles from vegetable matrices, vegetable waste, and renewable sources to deliver B2B products under the form of CBD oil, Terpenes and Waxes. The factory located in Biasca, will be built to the state of art of extractio