Rakuten Aspyrian raises $150mm via Series C round

Rakuten Aspyrian Inc. (formerly known as Aspyrian Therapeutics) raised $150mm through its Series C round led by company chairman and CEO of Rakuten Inc., Hiroshi Mikitani. The company is developing photoimmunotherapies for cancer and will use the Series C funds to advance lead compound ASP1929 into Phase III trials by the end of 2018 for recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. Funds will also go towards manufacturing scale-up for future commercialization of the candidate, build-up of commercial operations to support launching ASP1929 in the US, Europe, and Japan, and potential expansion of research for the candidate in other cancers.