Engine Biosciences raises US$27 million Series A extension

BIOTECH startup Engine Biosciences has raised a US$27 million Series A extension, bringing its total Series A round to US$70 million.

The financing was led by Polaris Partners. New investors comprise Coronet Ventures, the Singapore-based investment venture unit of Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, and Seeds Capital, Enterprise Singapore’s investment arm. Existing investors ClavystBio, Invus and EDBI also participated.

Amy Schulman, managing partner, Polaris Partners, said: “We are excited to lead this strong investor syndicate in support of Engine’s pursuit of clinical value creation through development of its therapeutics and biomarkers and partnerships.”

As part of the financing round, ClavystBio’s therapeutics lead, Ho Wen Qi, joined Engine’s board.

The funding will be used to advance Engine’s precision oncology drug candidates through preclinical studies for regulatory approvals for clinical trials. The startup will also be on the lookout for potential partnerships with pharmaceutical companies to license technology and assets for its drug development pipeline.