Dundee University spin out Amphista Therapeutics has announced the closing of a £38 million Series B financing round.

Newhouse-based Amphista describes itself as “a leader in next generation targeted protein degradation (TPD) approaches.”

Founded by Advent Life Sciences, Amphista is a spin-out of TPD expert Professor Alessio Ciulli’s labs at the University of Dundee.

The company has raised £45 million to date and is funded by leading life science investors including Forbion, Gilde Healthcare, Novartis Venture Fund, Advent Life Sciences, BioMotiv and Eli Lilly.

The latest funding round was co-led by Forbion and Gilde Healthcare.

Additional investors in this round include Novartis Venture Fund and Eli Lilly, joining existing investor BioMotiv and founding investor Advent Life Sciences.

The proceeds will be used to accelerate the company’s growing pipeline of potent and selective bifunctional molecules, known as “Amphistas” to the clinic and to extend its proprietary TPD platform.

Amphista CEO Nicola Thompson said: “This financing round, led by an outstanding investor syndicate, is a strong endorsement of our world class team and our novel approach.

“Amphista will now accelerate its oncology pipeline towards the clinic and extend our portfolio into indications largely inaccessible by traditional TPD approaches, such as diseases of the central nervous system (CNS).

“This oversubscribed Series B supports our ambition as a world-leading next generation protein degradation company delivering ground-breaking new medicines to patients in areas of high unmet need.”

Rogier Rooswinkel, partner at co-lead investor, Forbion said: “We are delighted to have selected Amphista as the first company to invest in from our fifth fund that closed late last year.

“Amphista combines several attributes we typically look for: a world-class team, innovative science, and a disruptive technology that has the potential to improve treatment options and thus impact many patients’ lives.”

Stefan Luzi, partner at co-lead investor Gilde, said: “Amphista emerged as the best-in-class protein degradation company in our comprehensive landscaping effort.

“We believe this team, who are pioneers in this field, combined with a truly unique platform, will unlock the full therapeutic potential of a broad range of disease targets.

“Amphista represents a strong fit with Gilde’s longstanding strategy of identifying Europe’s leading science and of engaging with experienced drug developers to build and support high growth (bio)pharma companies.”

In association with this financing, Amphista has added the following life science executives to its board: Stefan Luzi, partner at Gilde Healthcare; Rogier Rooswinkel, partner at Forbion; and Florian Muellershausen, managing director at Novartis Venture Fund.