U.S. Gritstone Oncology raises $102 million in Series A funding

U.S. cancer immunotherapy company Gritstone Oncology, which specializes in developing next-generation, personalized cancer therapeutics, announced a Series A financing of $102 million.

Gritstone said in a statement that the financing will support discovery and development of novel tumor-specific neo-antigen based immunotherapies, with an initial focus on lung cancer.

The company also said that substantial funding, along with its expertise, a systematic discovery and development approach, will enable it to solve the core challenge of identifying personalized, therapeutic neo-antigens for individual patients.

The Series E round was co-led by biotechnology investors Versant Ventures and The Column Group, with Clarus Ventures alongside. Other investors include Frazier Healthcare Partners, Redmile Group, Casdin Capital, and Transformational Healthcare Opportunity, a special-purpose vehicle for private investors.