SCYNEXIS, Inc., a drug discovery and development company headquartered in Research Triangle Park, has raised $13.5 million in financing led by one of its key partners, Merial Limited. SR One, GlaxoSmithKline's independent corporate healthcare venture capital fund, also participated.
Merial, a world-leading animal health company, selected SCYNEXIS as a primary research partner in 2005 in an agreement worth up to $150 million in research funding and additional undisclosed milestone and royalty payments. In 2007 this collaboration was expanded and SCYNEXIS received its first royalty payment. Merial is a joint venture between Merck & Co., Inc. and sanofi-aventis.
"It is tremendously validating when current collaborators and investors demonstrate continued commitment," said SCYNEXIS President and CEO Dr. Yves J. Ribeill. "We are extremely pleased with Merial and SR One’s confidence in both our growth potential and in the role SCYNEXIS will play discovering and developing human and animal therapeutics, including new treatments for neglected diseases."
SCYNEXIS provides drug pipeline solutions to pharmaceutical and global health partners. The company is also focused on developing a proprietary internal pipeline based on cyclophilins, a class of drugs that hold significant potential for the treatment of a broad range of diseases.