Bugworks Research, a Biopharma startup, announced that it has raised $7.5 million (Rs 57.30 crore) in a fresh funding round, led by University of Tokyo Edge Capital and Global Brain Corporation, along with South Africa-based Acquipharma Holdings, the Bengaluru and Delaware-based company announced on Thursday.
With the closure of the transaction, the startup, which also counts venture capital firm 3one4 Capital as an existing investor, has now raised $19 million across rounds, the company said in its official statement. Earlier in 2018, the company had raised $9 million in Series A equity financing round.
The company will use the funds to complete its phase-1 studies for its GYROX series intravenous drug candidate, as well as advance an oral lead towards clinical advancement, according to the prepared statement.
“This new financing is an endorsement of our team and differentiated anti-microbial resistance (AMR) assets, as we bring reputed global investors to aid our mission of pandemic preparedness by defeating superbug infections,” said Anand Anandkumar, Chief Executive of Bugworks.
“UTEC led the Bugworks Series A in 2018, as we identified AMR as one of the global issues of mankind, and facilitated Bugworks’ collaboration with Japanese ecosystem. Bugworks has thoroughly impressed us with their scientific rigour, pre-clinical data, business development progress and commitment to saving lives,” Tomotaka Goji, Managing Partner and President, UTEC, said.
Tokyo-based UTEC is an early-stage venture capital firm, with over $500 million in assets under management. Separately, Global Brain, also headquartered in the Japanese capital, is a stage-agnostic investment firm, managing assets of over $1.5 billion.
“As witnessed with Covid-19, infectious diseases are threatening human existence. AMR is a serious issue and Global Brain regards this as a big unmet medical need…We consider India to be an important region, both from innovation and market perspective, and are hence accelerating our investment activity in India,” Yasuhiko Yurimoto, Founder-CEO and General Partner at Global Brain, said.
Bugworks Research Inc. was founded in 2014 by Anand Anandkumar. The company is headquartered in US with subsidiaries in India and Australia. The company aims to discover novel pharmaceutical assets for combating Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).
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