A Chicago biotech firm raised new cash from Samsung's venture capital arm as it develops gene therapy treatments for people suffering from diabetes and other genetic diseases.
Jaguar Gene Therapy said Tuesday that it has raised additional funding from Samsung Ventures and JDRF T1D Fund, a venture philanthropy fund focused on curing type 1 diabetes.
The funding amount wasn't disclosed, but it adds to the startup's $139 million round it raised last year from Eli Lilly and Co., Deerfield Management, Goldman Sachs and others. The cash will help Jaguar advance its preclinical pipeline of therapies that target type 1 diabetes, galactosemia, autism spectrum disorder and other genetic conditions, the company said.
Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Lake Forest, Jaguar is one of the most funded biotech startups in Chicago. The company is led by the former leadership team at AveXis, an Illinois-based maker of gene replacement therapy for spinal muscular atrophy that was acquired by Novartis in 2018 for nearly $9 billion.
Last October, Jaguar announced plans to build a 174,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in North Carolina for the clinical and commercial production of its gene therapy treatments. The facility is expected to create 200 jobs.
Lab space in Chicago has long been an issue for the area's biotech sector, although that is beginning to change. New space at Trammell Crow's Fulton Labs project in the West Loop and Sterling Bay's Prysm Life Sciences initiative in Lincoln Park are positioned to provide needed workspace to Chicago firms. Portal Innovations, a seed fund and accelerator program for life sciences companies, said last month that it has expanded its operations in Fulton Labs by opening 35,000 square feet of wet and dry lab and office space.
