Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Appia Bio Takes $52M For Stem Cell Therapy

Los Angeles-based Appia Bio, a biotech startup focused on developing engineered allogeneic cell therapies from hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) for cancer patients, has launched from stealth mode, saying it has raised $52M in a Series A funding round. The funding was led by 8VC, and also included Two Sigma Ventures, Sherpa Healthcare Partners and Freeflow Ventures. The company said its technology was originally developed in the laboratory of Lili Yang, PhD, associate professor at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Appia said that Francisco Gimenez, PhD, and David Moskowitz, PhD, of 8VC, both join the company's board, with David Baltimore, PhD, of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) serving as Chairman. The company said the proceeds from the funding will go to support advancement of its therapy candidates.