Quellis Biosciences Inc., an emerging biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering best-in-class new molecules to treat serious rare diseases, today announced its emergence from stealth operations and that it has closed a $17 million Series A financing led by the Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Fund (PXV Fund).
Quellis was founded in November 2017 by biopharma incubator Viridian LLC with seed financing from Xontogeny LLC. The Series A financing was closed following the successful discovery and characterization of promising new molecules. Quellis is led by President and founding CEO Jonathan Violin, Ph.D. and Chief Scientific Officer Vahe Bedian, Ph.D., both Partners at Viridian. The Quellis Board of Directors comprises Chairman Chris Garabedian, CEO of Xontogeny and Manager, PXV Fund for Perceptive Advisors, joined by Directors Fred Callori, SVP of Xontogeny and Partner of PXV Fund and Dr. Violin.
“Quellis represents a shared vision for patient focused, data driven, and capital efficient discovery and development of important new medicines,” said Quellis founding CEO Jonathan Violin. “I’m thrilled to partner with Chris and the PXV team as we advance our novel and differentiated molecules in hopes of providing patients with meaningful new treatment options.”
The Company is currently optimizing several novel monoclonal antibodies targeting an undisclosed but validated mechanism of action to achieve a differentiated clinical profile for an undisclosed rare disease. As part of these efforts, the Company plans to incorporate Xencor Inc.’ s Xtend® Fc technology, for which the Company holds a target-exclusive license from Xencor. Xtend is a clinically proven antibody technology that provides for improved antibody half-life and thereby reduces the size and frequency of doses that patients require compared to a standard antibody drug candidate.
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“We are excited to support the Quellis team in their goal to advance next-generation antibody therapies for rare diseases,” said Chris Garabedian. “We believe the de-risked biology and unmet need present an important opportunity for the lead Quellis program to create value for patients, providers, and payers.”
Source: BusinessWire
