Kymab raises $50 mln to fund antibody-generating technology

May 6, 2015 10:54 AM

May 6 (Reuters) - Biopharma company Kymab said it had raised $50 million from two firms associated with veteran British investor Neil Woodford to support the privately held company's antibody-generating technology, Kymouse.

Woodford manages Woodford Patient Capital Trust Plc, a closed-end investment trust, and has a stake in biotech investment company Malin Corp Plc through his firm Woodford Investment Management.

Kymab specialises in producing monoclonal antibodies, or antibodies created from clones of a single cell in the lab rather than by a person's own immune system.

The money raised would help it develop a pipeline of antibodies in "areas of significant unmet medical need", Kymab said in an email statement on Wednesday.

The funds raised were the final part of a $90 million series B fundraising. The Wellcome Trust and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation had contributed the initial $40 million in May last year.

In all, Kymab has raised $120 million in equity financing since it was founded in 2009, it said.

Dublin-based Malin also got two seats on Kymab's board, including one for its chief executive, Adrian Howd. (Reporting by Richa Naidu in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

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