Chimerix Raises $11 Million in Series C Financing to Advance Smallpox Drug and Other Antiviral Therapeutics

SAN DIEGO -- Chimerix Inc., a biotechnology company developing orally available antiviral therapeutics, today announced an $11 million private placement of its Series C preferred stock. Frazier Healthcare Ventures, a new investor, led the round, and Robert Overell, Ph.D., a general partner with Frazier Healthcare Ventures, will join Chimerix's board of directors. Additional funding for the round came from founding investors Sanderling Ventures and Asset Management Company.

"This financing provides resources for the company to advance our current therapeutic programs and to broaden the application of our proprietary technology to new commercially attractive therapeutic indications," said George Painter, PhD, president and CEO of Chimerix, Inc. "The funds will allow Chimerix to acquire additional developmental resources as we advance CMX001, our lead antiviral agent for treatment of smallpox infection, toward clinical trials. I would like to welcome Bob to Chimerix's board of directors and to thank our founding and existing investors, Sanderling Ventures and Asset Management Company for their continued confidence in the company's progress, technology and therapeutic pipeline."

The financing will augment a $36.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health awarded to Chimerix for the development of CMX001 for the prophylaxis and treatment of smallpox infection and will allow Chimerix to accelerate development programs for treating cytomegalovirus infection, multi-drug resistant HIV-1 infection, viral hepatitis and other discovery-stage preclinical programs.

"Chimerix has a proven platform that corrects undesirable absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination (ADME) properties of drug candidates for viral diseases," said Robert Overell, PhD "Chimerix's technology addresses this critical problem in drug development and has led to the successful creation of a therapeutic portfolio of preclinical compounds to treat a variety of human diseases, including smallpox."

Source: Chimerix Inc.