On December 21, 2017 TARIS Biomedical LLC, a company developing targeted new therapies for millions of patients suffering from difficult-to-treat bladder diseases, reported that it has raised $25M in a Series B financing. This round was led by Yonghua Capital, with participation from new investors Bristol-Myers Squibb and Norma Investments, representing businessman Roman Abramovich (Press release, TARIS Biomedical, DEC 21, 2017, View Source [SID1234522767]). Existing investors Flagship Pioneering, Polaris Partners, and RA Capital Management, also participated in the Series B round.
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In a separate announcement (link), TARIS also announced that it has entered into a clinical research collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb to study the combination of Opdivo (nivolumab) and TARIS’ lead program TAR-200 (GemRIS) in the treatment of muscle invasive bladder cancer.
"We have made substantial progress on our lead programs in bladder cancer and overactive bladder," said Purnanand Sarma, Ph.D., President and CEO of TARIS. "Both programs demonstrate our unique approach to designing novel therapeutics that may dramatically change the management of these serious diseases. Funds from this round will be used to rapidly advance both indications through key clinical milestones."
"TARIS is thrilled to add new investors to our syndicate, and we are grateful to Flagship Pioneering, Polaris Partners, and RA Capital Management for their ongoing support," Sarma continued.
"We are excited to join the new and existing investors in this financing round, and to help TARIS build substantial long-term value as a focused urology company," said Moses Zhao, Managing Partner, North American Healthcare Investment for Yonghua Capital.
About the TARIS System
The TARIS System is designed to continuously release drugs in the bladder over weeks to months. It is deployed and retrieved using minimally-invasive, in-office procedures. This technology allows drug release to be tailored to match the needs of each disease.