Fidelity Biosciences Pumps $65M into EnVivo Pharma

Fidelity Biosciences has invested $65 million in EnVivo Pharmaceuticals, a Watertown, MA-based developer of drugs for Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia, in a Series D venture financing round, according to this report on Fierce Biotech from Dow Jones VentureWire.

The Boston-based fund bought out all of the company’s other investors, including BCM Technologies, Cogene Ventures, and NeuroVentures Capital, according to the report. The new round of cash will support drug candidates for schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s in the early stages of clinical testing, according to its website. EnVivo, which expects the cash to last into 2010, is considering forming a partnership to co-develop its drugs with a pharmaceutical company, according to the report. A spokesperson for EnVivo didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

EnVivo, according to its website, was founded in 2001. Its CEO is Kees Been, former CEO of Bionaut Pharmaceuticals and a former senior vice president of business development for Cambridge, MA-based Biogen Idec, whom Ryan interviewed last November. EnVivo says on its website that it has 38 full-time employees.

Author: Luke Timmerman

Luke is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences. He has served as national biotechnology editor for Xconomy and national biotechnology reporter for Bloomberg News. Luke got started covering life sciences at The Seattle Times, where he was the lead reporter on an investigation of doctors who leaked confidential information about clinical trials to investors. The story won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and several other national prizes. Luke holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and during the 2005-2006 academic year, he was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.