Seeing the promised land

New Enterprise Associates made the first biopharma investment from its new fund by leading a $27 million series A-1 round recapitalizing antibody drug conjugate play Mersana Therapeutics Inc.

Mersana has spent over a decade developing its Fleximer technology. Fleximer is a hydrophilic, biodegradable polyacetal polymer that is derived from dextran, a polysaccharide that can be manipulated. The company started using the technology for RNAi delivery and in small molecule conjugates, but last year shifted gears to work on antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs)...