Anaptys Biosciences Raises Over $33 Million in Series B Financing

New Capital to Support Continued Advancement of Novel Technology and

Product Portfolio

    LA JOLLA, Calif., Nov. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Anaptys Biosciences, Inc., a
 privately-held therapeutic antibody product company, today announced that
 it has raised $33.9 million in a Series B equity financing led by Novo A/S.
 Additional investors participating significantly in the round were Frazier
 Healthcare Ventures and Alloy Ventures, along with founding investor Avalon
 Ventures. Completing the syndicate were Numenor Ventures, WS Investment
 Company, and Anaptys board member, Dr. Nick Lydon.
     The new investment capital will support continued advancement of the
 company's novel technology for therapeutic antibody discovery and
 optimization, and building a pipeline of product candidates.
     "We are pleased to have attracted such a strong investor group to
 support the company's multiple development programs," said Tom Smart,
 chairman and chief executive officer of Anaptys. "In addition to providing
 significant financial resources, these experienced investors bring Anaptys
 a wealth of operational, medical, and industry expertise along with key
 relationships that will serve the company well during this important stage
 of growth and achievement."
     In connection with the financing, Heath Lukatch, Ph.D., of Novo A/S,
 James N. Topper, M.D., Ph.D., of Frazier Healthcare Ventures, and J.
 Leighton Read, M.D., of Alloy Ventures will join the Anaptys Board of
 Directors together with existing members Kevin J Kinsella of Avalon
 Ventures, Nick Lydon, Ph.D., of Granite Biopharma, LLC, R. Scott Greer of
 Numenor Ventures, and Anaptys executives William Boyle, Ph.D., and Tom
 Smart.
     "It is a great pleasure for Novo A/S to lead this investment in
 Anaptys," said Dr. Lukatch. "The company has developed powerful
 technologies to quickly and cost effectively optimize antibodies against a
 variety of high value targets. By harnessing the efficiency of somatic
 hypermutation for antibody evolution and optimization, Anaptys' innovative
 Omnitope-SHM(TM) System has the potential to usher in a new generation of
 best-in-class therapeutic antibodies."
     About Anaptys Biosciences, Inc.
     Anaptys is a privately-held developer of therapeutic antibody products
 and the leader in the use of SHM for antibody discovery and optimization.
 SHM, or somatic hypermutation, is the body's natural process for generating
 antibody diversity to fight disease. The company's Omnitope-SHM(TM) System
 utilizes the key components of SHM to enable the rapid generation and
 selection of antibodies for therapeutic applications. The versatile
 platform can be applied to the de novo discovery and optimization of
 antibodies directed to a chosen disease target, as well as affinity mature
 an existing antibody to improve its binding potency. Anaptys is using the
 platform to build a pipeline of product candidates with significant medical
 and commercial potential. For more information, visit the company's web
 site at http://www.anaptysbio.com.
     About Novo A/S
     Novo A/S is the holding company of the Novo Group, and is wholly owned
 by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. Novo A/S was established in 1999 to manage
 the assets of the Foundation and actively make investments on behalf of the
 Foundation. Novo Ventures is recognized as a significant force within life
 science venture capital and is active in both Europe and North America. The
 Novo Ventures team consists of six Partners in Copenhagen, one in London,
 and two in San Francisco.
     With an evergreen structure, Novo A/S annually invests approximately
 $90 million in venture capital into private life sciences companies and
 acts at a pace comparable to a traditional $400 million fund. Novo A/S is
 not a corporate strategic fund; the group invests for financial rather than
 strategic returns. In total, Novo A/S has more than $10 billion under
 management, which includes significant shareholdings in the independently
 operating and publicly listed companies Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S.
 For more information, visit http://www.novo.dk.
 
 

SOURCE Anaptys Biosciences, Inc.