2015年1月6日訊 / --最近總部位于美國麻省坎布里奇市的生物技術公司Moderna公司宣布再獲四億五千萬美元風投資金。這也是公司自成立以來所獲得的最大規模的投資。
本輪投資的主要投資方包括Viking Global Investors、Invus、RA Capital Management和Wellington Management等著名風投公司。而Moderna公司的投資方兼研究伙伴阿斯利康公司和Alexion公司也紛紛參與其中。這也使這家成立于2011年的年輕生物技術公司募集資金總額達到了九億五千萬美元之多。
Moderna公司自成立以來就以開發人類蛋白質以及抗體藥物作為公司的核心。而其掌握的獨特的靶向療法技術也吸引了阿斯利康公司等生物醫藥巨頭與其達成合作協議。
此次融資后，Moderna公司將開辟mRNA療法的新領域，根據公司管理人員介紹，目前Moderna公司在這一領域有著45項臨床前項目，涵蓋了多個疾病治療領域。此次資金的注入，為Moderna公司進一步開拓這一領域的研究注入了強大的動力。公司將把現有的研究團隊擴大至145人。
RNA藥物研究領域已經越來越成為各大生物醫藥公司的必爭之地。根據著名市場調查公司Allied公司的調查結果顯示，到2020年，RNA療法藥物的銷售額將達到十二億美元以上，并將保持28.4％的高速增長。
一方面是由于RNA療法能夠克服蛋白質類藥物在體內容易被清除的缺點，另一方面也是由于其能夠直接作用于一些突變的致病基因，從而達到更徹底長效治療疾病的目的。
此外，近年來載藥系統領域研究的成果為順利將RNA藥物輸入體內提供了有力的保障。這都促使RNA藥物研究領域的興起。（相關閱讀：RNAi藥物或將成為未來醫藥市場新貴）。目前科學家們希望能利用這種方法治療一些病毒性疾病如肝炎等以及癌癥。
（力太生物litebio.com）
詳細英文報道：
Superlatively well-funded biotech Moderna Therapeutics has raised another $450 million in venture cash, planning to staff up and buckle down on a slew of preclinical candidates that promises to transform patients' cells into drug factories.
The latest round, by far the largest in recent memory, comes courtesy of new investors Viking Global Investors, Invus, RA Capital Management and Wellington Management, plus previous backers--and collaborators--AstraZeneca ($AZN) and Alexion ($ALXN). With the sum, Moderna has banked more than $950 million in venture and collaboration cash since its 2011 foundation by Flagship Ventures, and, despite the presence of crossover investors like RA, the biotech insists that it's not planning a near-term IPO.
Moderna's flagship technology has the potential to spur the production of human proteins or antibodies within patient cells, effectively creating an in vivo factory for targeted therapies. The company believes its proprietary approach to messenger RNA has the potential to treat previously undruggable targets in a wide range of disease areas, touting 45 preclinical programs in its pipeline.
Now, with another boatload of cash secured, the Cambridge, MA, biotech plans to dial up its efforts, looking to hire more than 100 scientists and researchers to bolster its existing staff of 145.
"The strong support from our investors is a testament to the incredible work done by our team over the past three years in unlocking the potential of mRNA therapeutics to drive transformational advances for patients," CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement. "With $800 million in cash after this financing, we are moving rapidly to support the exponential growth of our mRNA therapeutics platform with new investments, partnerships and ventures, and are committed to recruiting the best industry talent to support this growth at all levels, including bench scientists, seasoned drug hunters and leaders for our new ventures."
The big figures and big ambitions tied to Moderna's latest fundraise fit right in with the company's brief history. Shortly after coming out of stealth in late 2012, the company inked a $420 million deal with AstraZeneca in which a whopping $240 million of that total came in up-front cash, among the largest down payments in industry history. Shortly thereafter, Moderna pulled in a $120 million second financing round and then quickly banked another $125 million from partner Alexion with the promise of further payments down the road.
Along the way, Moderna has partnered up with DARPA and the Karolinska Institutet on R&D projects stemming from its baseline mRNA technology, and the biotech hived off its efforts in cancer into a subsidiary called Onkaido.
Flagship led Moderna's $40 million seed round in late 2012, helping the company get on its feet with technology based on the work of cofounder and Harvard stem cell expert Derrick Rossi. The company, a 2013 Fierce 15 honoree, then fleshed out its C-suite in convincing Bancel to quit his job as chief of the fast-growing French diagnostics outfit bioMérieux and has since more than quadrupled its staff as it marches toward human trials for its novel technology.
