U.S.-based Octave Life Sciences and South Korean venture capital firm Smilegate Investment Inc. led a $137.1 million series B financing round for South Korean clinical-stage biotechnology company D&D Pharmatech Co. Ltd.
Current investors InterVest Co. Ltd., MAGNA Investment Co. Ltd. and LB Investment Inc. also participated in the round, together with individual shareholders/co-founders and employees from the U.S. and South Korea.
D&D Pharmatech focuses on the development and commercialization of revolutionary drugs through its three businesses Neuraly Inc., Precision Molecular Inc. and Theraly Fibrosis Inc.
Neuraly will use the capital to move a clinical candidate targeting neurodegenerative diseases into phase II trials, while Precision will use the funding to advance several neuroinflammation imaging agents into phase I and phase II trials. The capital will aid Theraly in advancing a preclinical candidate targeting fibrosis into a phase I/II trial.
D&D Pharmatech raised about $18.5 million in a series A round in March 2018, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.