Immune Design has reeled in $32.5 million in venture capital financing, with plans to raise up to $16.5 million more in the series C round if certain milestones are met. Investors in the round include The Column Group, Topspin Partners, as well as existing investors Alta Partners, Versant Ventures, Osage Partners and ProQuest Investment.
“Immune Design has made great strides in advancing its innovative immunotherapy technologies and positioning its product candidates to enter clinical evaluation,” said Bernard Davitian, Vice President and Managing Director of Sanofi-Genzyme BioVentures, which also joined the round.
The Seattle company also announced that it has established an outpost in San Francisco, with plans to expand those operations. The funding, which brings total amount raised to $84.5 million, marks one of the largest venture capital deals in the Seattle biotech industry this year. Earlier this year, Theraclone Sciences raised $14 million, and Blaze Biosciences pulled in $8.5 million.
Luke Timmerman at Xconomy reports that Immune Design is using the immune system to attack cancer cells, using a slightly different approach to Dendreon. He notes that the “field that has tantalized researchers for decades but which has only recently generated near-universal excitement across oncology.
Immune Design is led by CEO Carlos Paya, the former president of Elan who previously served as Vice President of Lilly Research Laboratories. He joined in 2011.
