- Biopharmaceutical company Quellis Biosciences announced it raised $17 million to treat serious rare diseases
Quellis, a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering new molecules to treat serious rare diseases — announced that it has emerged from stealth and has closed $17 million in Series A funding led by the Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Fund (PXV Fund).
Launched in November 2017, Quellis was founded by biopharma incubator Viridian LLC with seed financing from Xontogeny LLC. And the Series A round of funding was closed following the 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. And the Quellis Board of Directors comprises of 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 Violin — who is the founding CEO of Quellis. “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.”
Quellis 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. And as part of these efforts, the Quellis plans to incorporate Xencor’s Xtend Fc technology, for which the Quellis holds a target-exclusive license from Xencor. Xtend is a clinically proven antibody technology that provides for improved antibody half-life and reduces the size and frequency of doses that patients require compared to a standard antibody drug candidate.
“We are excited to support the Quellis team in their goal to advance next-generation antibody therapies for rare diseases,” added 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.”
