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BG-backed Orchard raises $150m on the back of GSK deal

BG-backed Orchard raises $150m on the back of GSK deal 1

BG-backed Orchard raises $150m on the back of GSK deal

Baillie Gifford-backed US-UK gene therapy company Orchard Therapeutics has raised $150m in a Series C financing  just four months after acquiring GlaxoSmithKline’s portfolio of investigational and approved rare disease gene therapies. The financing was led by Deerfield Management, a leading US healthcare investor, and included more than 10 new US healthcare investors including RA Capital, Venrock, Foresite Capital, Perceptive Advisors, Cormorant, ArrowMark Partners, Sphera Global Healthcare, Medison Ventures, Driehaus Capital and Ghost Tree Capital. Existing investors including Temasek (Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund), Baillie Gifford, RTW Investments, Cowen Healthcare Investments and Agent Capital also participated in the round.

Proceeds from the Series C financing will be used to progress Orchard’s three most advanced clinical programs: OTL-101 for adenosine deaminase severe combined immunodeficiency (ADA-SCID), OTL-200 for metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) and OTL-103 for Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome (WAS) towards registration and commercialisation. The funding will also support the clinical and preclinical development of the company’s rare disease gene therapy pipeline.

The company also has an approved product in the form of Strimvelis for children with adenosine deaminase severe combined immunodeficiency (ADA-SCID), also known as the “boy in the bubble” disease. Strimvelis was the world’s first autologous ex vivo gene therapy, when it was approved by the EU in 2016, and only the second ever gene therapy to be approved in the western world. However, Strimvelis treats a condition that affects just one in 200,000 to million live births per year.

Baillie Giffford co-led a $110m Series B venture financing for Orchard last year with the BG-managed Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust (SMT) taking a stake valued at £16m

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