EDBI joins US$500m funding round for US biotech Moderna

EDBI, the investment arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board, has joined a group of investors in a US$500 million (S$656 million) funding round for US biotech Moderna Therapeutics.

Other new investors include a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), BB Biotech AG, Julius Baer, and Sequoia Capital China. Existing investors that also participated in this round include Fidelity Management & Research Company, Pictet, Viking Global Investors, ArrowMark Partners and Alexandria Venture Investments.

Moderna Therapeutics is a clinical stage biotech company that is pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines to create a new generation of transformative medicines for high unmet medical needs in patients.

The funding will help drive the company's continued execution of its rapidly growing pipeline of 19 development candidates - including 10 programmes in clinical trials, said Moderna.

Proceeds will also be used to further Moderna's investment in its research engine and other priorities including innovative drug discovery in rare disease and prophylactic vaccines, continued investment in mRNA science and technology to further advance the company's mRNA development and delivery platform; and investment in the company's manufacturing infrastructure and digital backbone.

With the completion of this funding round, Moderna has nearly US$1.4 billion in cash on its balance sheet in addition to its potential access to up to nearly US$250 million in grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, a division of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response within the US Department of Health and Human Services, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

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