Anaphore cultures $25M for protein treatments

Biotech firm Anaphore has raised $25 million in first-round funding to continue development of protein therapies for cancer and immune diseases. The money, which includes $8 million in seed financing received in March, is enough to push a couple of its drugs into clinical trials.

In particular, Anaphore works to create artimers — treatments manufactured from naturally secreted human serum protein. The La Jolla, Calif.-based company says they are more efficient to produce and easier to commercialize than treatments that have been used in the past — namely, antibodies.

Apposite Capital, Versant Ventures and 5AM Ventures shared the lead in the round.

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