ElevateBio Raises $525M to Advance Cell/ Gene Therapy Business Model

Rare Daily Staff

ElevateBio, which operates a portfolio of cell and gene therapy companies, said it closed a $525 million series C financing to advance a new disruptive business model addressing the most pressing challenges in the field of cell and gene therapy.

There are nearly a thousand cell and gene therapies in development targeting a broad range of diseases, but only a small number have been approved so far, and approvals are often delayed due to manufacturing issues in the scale-up to commercialization.

ElevateBio says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) predicts that by 2025, they will be approving 10 to 20 cell and gene therapy products a year based on an assessment of the current pipeline and the clinical success rates of these products. Scaling production from a few million cells in the lab to manufacturing the billions of cells needed to treat patients is uniquely complex. While innovation has greatly advanced in the discovery and development of cell and gene therapies, the approach to manufacturing these novel medicines has largely relied on traditional modes of development or a patchwork of technologies and providers, hampering and slowing their impact on human health.

Using a suite of next generation-enabling technologies that includes gene editing, induced pluripotent stem cells, and protein, viral, and cellular engineering, the company aims to change the way the field advances cell and gene therapies. ElevateBio is positioning itself to power the industry’s most promising therapies by democratizing access to its technologies, and using its technology-enabled process development and CGMP manufacturing capability to advance transformative therapies across the entire industry.

The series C financing will be used to continue the development and expansion of its technology platforms, build upon its network of process development and GMP manufacturing capacity, and advance an increasing number of industry partnerships, while also continuing to develop its own innovative cell and gene therapies.

“ElevateBio has created the first fully-integrated technology company exclusively focused on cell and gene therapy, disrupting the current paradigm by providing end-to-end capabilities that enable partners a strategic advantage in the market and, ultimately, meet the urgent need of patients and families suffering with life-threatening and devastating diseases,” said David Hallal, chairman and CEO of ElevateBio. “While we see remarkable breakthroughs in the earliest days of the cell and gene therapy revolution, accelerating innovation requires next-generation technology, analytics, and production capabilities to deliver therapies better, faster, and cheaper.”

Matrix Capital Management led the financing alongside additional new investors SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Fidelity Management & Research Company, with participation by existing investors MPM Capital, F2 Ventures, Redmile Group, EcoR1 Capital, Samsara BioCapital, The Invus Group, Emerson Collective, Surveyor Capital (A Citadel company), EDBI, Vertex Ventures, iTochu, and a large insurance company.

As part of the financing, two new members, Karan Takhar, senior managing director at Matrix Capital Management and Deep Nishar, senior managing partner, SoftBank Investment Advisers, will join ElevateBio’s Board of Directors.

Photo: David Hallal, chairman and CEO of ElevateBio