Nexvet raises $33.6m in financing round

Melbourne-based Nexvet Biopharma has raised US$31.5 million ($33.6 million) via a Series B financing round, and plans to use the proceeds to help fund its clinical programs.

The funding round was led by US-based institutional investors Farallon Capital Management, Adage Capital Partners and Foresite Capital, and Tavistock Life Sciences subsidiary fund Boxer Capital.

Nexvet’s lead programs consist of monoclonal antibodies customised for specific companion animals using its PETisation platform. They include drug candidates for canine pain, feline pain and canine inflammation.

All three candidates are due to enter key clinical trials over the next 18 months, and the funding round will help finance these trials. Nexvet also raised $7 million through an oversubscribed capital raising in October.

The company said it also plans to use the funding injection to expand its product pipeline and its US operations.

“This financing serves as a major milestone, allowing us to expand our research and development team and greatly aiding our work to make [monoclonal antibodies] available for the global companion animal health market, where there remains a large unmet medical need,” Nexvet CEO Dr Mark Heffernan said.