Provention raises $28.4M in series A
Autoimmune and inflammatory disease prevention and interception play Provention Bio Inc. (Lebanon, N.J.) said it raised $28.4 million in a series A round from the Johnson & Johnson Innovation-JJDC Inc. arm of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), the JDRF T1D fund and undisclosed private investors. The newco is aiming to conduct an IPO in 2018.
Francisco Leon, former VP and head of translational medicine at J&J's Janssen Biotech Inc. unit, co-founded Provention with CEO Ashleigh Palmer in 2016 with the intention of licensing "underdeveloped" assets that were languishing within other companies, Palmer told BioCentury. Leon and Palmer said they looked for first-in-class clinical stage assets that fulfilled unmet needs to intercept and prevent disease...