NovImmune Tops Off Licensing Deal with $20.6 M

An earlier lucrative licensing deal with Genentech Inc. helped Swiss biotech NovImmune SA to secure an additional $20.6 million Series B financing. The Genentech deal for rights to NovImmune's anti-Interleukin-17 (IL-17) antibody program, finalized in July, provided enough external validation to draw the interest of lead investor BZ Bank Aktiengesellschaft. The funds will be used to develop proof-of-concept data on two of NovImmune's compounds and complete validation of its antibody platform.