Clal Biotech: Neon Theraputics Raises $106M

December 6, 2017 | Israel’s umbrella organization of high-tech and life sciences industries Clal Biotechnology announced its US cancer vaccine developer company Neon Therapeutics, where it holds a 5 percent stake, has raised $106 million in a finance round. The company had already announced that it had raised $70 million in the round and later added $36 million to bring it to the current total. The company was already valued at $125 million prior to the round. While Neon says this round helps them further their journey towards IPO, according to a report in Globes, this is also good news for Clal because it will profit from the closing of the round. Clal currently holds 70 percent of shares from the immunotherapy company Vedantra Pharmaceuticals and Vedantra has signed a deal with Neon where it will develop technology used to improve anti-cancer vaccine responses. Clal has said that it has Nasdaq offerings for four of the companies it has recently invested in, including Israeli companies Gamida Cell and BioCancell in 2017. One of the participants in this funding round for Neon was Len Blavatnik’s American holding company Access Industries, who Globes reports indirectly controls Clal Biotech. Clal Biotechnology was founded in 1998 and is based out of Ramat Gan, Israel.