iPierian raises $28 million from Series B equity financing closure

 iPierian, Inc., the leading biopharmaceutical company using patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) for drug discovery, today announced the second closing of its Series B equity financing, bringing the total amount raised in this round to $28 million. SR One, the independent corporate healthcare venture capital arm of GlaxoSmithKline, Biogen Idec New Ventures, and additional undisclosed investors participated in this closing. They joined the existing investor syndicate of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Highland Capital Partners, MPM Capital, Google Ventures, FinTech Global Capital, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital and ATEL Ventures, who all previously participated in this round.

"iPierian has industrialized the new science of iPSC technology for drug discovery, and their platform has the potential to transform pharmaceutical discovery and development across a broad range of therapeutic areas," said Rajeev Dadoo, Ph.D., a partner at SR One, who will participate as an observer on the iPierian Board of Directors. "The progress of their lead programs has demonstrated the promise of this approach to identify novel, disease-modifying therapeutics, and we look forward to helping iPierian grow and succeed as the leader in the application of iPSC technology."

Michael Venuti, Ph.D., CEO of iPierian, commented, "We are delighted to attract SR One and Biogen Idec, both leading investors in drug discovery platform companies, to join the premier group of investors in iPierian."

SOURCE iPierian, Inc.