As­cend launch­es with $130M+ as it looks to build in the AAV space

As­cend Gene & Cell Ther­a­pies, a CD­MO for AAV-based ther­a­pies, has emerged from stealth with $130 mil­lion in fund­ing and plans to ac­quire ex­pe­ri­enced teams.

The com­pa­ny, found­ed by Mono­graph Cap­i­tal, launched Tues­day with $117.5 mil­lion in a Se­ries A round, plus an ad­di­tion­al $15 mil­lion in seed fund­ing.

Tim Fun­nell, an ex­ec­u­tive di­rec­tor at As­cend and a part­ner at Mono­graph, told End­points News in an email that com­pa­nies have been rais­ing mon­ey to build out their in­ter­nal man­u­fac­tur­ing for AAVs since most tra­di­tion­al CD­MOs did not have those ca­pa­bil­i­ties. But that’s chang­ing, and As­cend is try­ing to hire much of the tal­ent that pre­vi­ous­ly went in­to those com­pa­nies, not to the CD­MOs.

Unlock this article instantly by becoming a free subscriber.

You’ll get access to free articles each month, plus you can customize what newsletters get delivered to your inbox each week, including breaking news.

SIGN UP LOG IN BECOME A PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER