Cellestia Biotech AG announced the closing of a CHF 20 million Series B financing round. The new funds will be added to the previous, including CHF 8 million Seed financing, CHF 20 million Series A financing and CHF 1 million non-dilutive research grants, bringing the total capital raised to date by Cellestia to CHF 49 million (USD 50 million).

"This financing strengthens our balance sheet as we work to achieve important milestones for our clinical candidate CB-103 as well as the follow-up compounds," said Gaudenz von Capeller, CFO of Cellestia Biotech AG.

Cellestia is progressing the ongoing clinical development program of CB-103, a first-in-class small molecule targeted therapy with a novel mode of action. CB-103 is a highly selective protein-protein interaction inhibitor targeting an oncogene transcription factor for the precision medicine treatment of specific cancers. It will also allow Cellestia to advance its innovative R&D pipeline activity.

In June 2019, Guido Guidi (Former Head Europe Novartis Pharma / Head Novartis Oncology Europe) was elected new Chairman of Board of Directors. Robert Karsunky (Head Latin America & Canada at Novartis Pharma) elected new Chairman of the Audit Committee and to the Board of Directors.

Michael Bauer, CEO of Cellestia Biotech AG said, "Guido’s experience and knowledge in development, business and building a successful organisation is a tremendous asset to our company, and we are delighted that he has joined Cellestia as Chairman of our Board.  Robert brings long-standing financial expertise to the board and strengthens internal governance in his roles of Chairman of the Audit Committee and Member of the Board. With these additions to the board, we are further adopting the board memberships in line with the company´s growth and development."    

"I am excited to be a part of Cellestia’s journey.  I find the science to be compelling and look forward to supporting the development of this novel precision oncology solution," said Guido Guidi.

About PPF/SOTIO
PPF Group is an international investment company focusing on multiple market segments such as banking, financial services, telecommunications, insurance, real estate, agriculture and biotechnology. PPF’s reach spans from Europe to Russia, the USA and across Asia. PPF's assets under management totalled to almost EUR 47 billion (as at 30 June 2019). SOTIO is an international biotechnology company spearheading PPF’s investment and partnering activities in the biotechnology sector.

About FC Capital
FC Capital is a China-based private equity firm specializing in healthcare investments in the Greater China region, the US and the European countries. FC Capital focuses in cultivating and investing in early and growth stage sector leaders ranging from pharmaceutical companies to technology and data providers that are aligning with secular growth trends or building innovative solutions to emerging challenges. Its parallel RMB and USD funds target high-quality companies looking for a patient and strategic partner to achieve unprecedented cross-border and long-term success.

About Partners Investment 
Partners Investment Co., Ltd. is a private equity and venture capital firm from the Republic of Korea, specializing in investments in buyouts and start-up companies. The firm typically invests in the Information technology, biotechnology, digital contents, machinery, materials, video, information and communication, healthcare, electronics, internet/game, and medical devices sectors. Partners Venture Capital Co., Ltd. was founded in 2000 and is based in Seoul, South Korea.

About Cellestia Biotech AG
Cellestia is a clinical-stage biopharma company targeting cancer at a level of gene transcription. The clinical candidate of Cellestia is CB-103, a novel, first-in-class oral pan-NOTCH inhibitor indicated for treatment of patients with NOTCH-driven leukemias, lymphomas and solid tumors. CB-103 is the first drug to selectively target this pathway at the level of the oncogenic transcription factor. Cellestia holds a worldwide exclusive license on the intellectual property rights for CB-103 and related series of analogues, for development and commercialization. The company pursues an integrated approach combining drug and personalized medicine development for patient selection.

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