ANN ARBOR ? Cerenis Therapeutics, a biotech company, said Wednesday that it had raised $13.9 million in venture capital in addition to the $51.7 million it already generated in July. The company operates dual headquarters in Ann Arbor and France.

Bill Brinkerhoff, Cerenis? chief operating officer, said the firm would use the funds to continue hiring to support its clinical development efforts. The company has 26 employees, about half in Ann Arbor and half in France.

Cerenis specializing in the research and development of novel therapies based on HDL (“good” cholesterol) to treat cardiovascular and other metabolic diseases, said it raised the latest capital in the second close of its Series C financing. To date the company has raised $163.5 million so far.

The latest round came from the group IRDI-IXO ($3.5 million each) and undisclosed international private investors. These investors join an impressive shareholder base alongside first close new investor, Strategic Investment Fund (FSI), which invested $30 million, and all historic investors: Sofinnova Partners, HealthCap, Alta Partners, TVM Capital, EDF Ventures, OrbiMed and DAIWA Corporate Investment who invested the remaining $30 million. The first close was announced in July this year.

Jean-Louis Dasseux, co-founder and CEO of Cerenis said: “We are delighted to close this additional Series C financing. Cerenis is now well positioned to continue its growth and HDL program development. ?

This financing will fund Phase II development of the lead Cerenis program, CER-001, an HDL-mimetic for the treatment of cardiovascular disease; it will also support the development of other new HDL therapies. Overall, the investment supports Cerenis’ objective to bring major innovative breakthroughs to one of the main areas of need in human health.

CER-001, Cerenis’ lead product, is being developed to rapidly regress atherosclerotic plaque, and is currently targeted for patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome. CER-001 has the potential to be the first and best in class recombinant HDL mimetic and a novel approach to treating cardiovascular disease and atherosclerosis, which remains the leading cause of death and morbidity worldwide.

For more information, click on Cerenis.Com

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