Cerulean Pharma Inc. Closes $10 Million Series B-1 Financing

Cerulean Pharma Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on novel intelligently designed nanoparticle-based drugs, today announced that it has closed a $10 million Series B-1 financing. Existing venture investors Polaris Venture Partners of Waltham, MA, Venrock of New York, NY, Lux Capital of New York, NY, and Bessemer Venture Partners of Wellesley, MA all participated in the financing round.

Cerulean intends to use the proceeds from the financing to advance the clinical development of IT-101, a cyclodextrin-based camptothecin nanoparticle recently in-licensed from Calando Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and to accelerate the preclinical development of nanoparticle-based drugs using both Cerulean's pre-existing nanoparticle-based technology as well as the in-licensed cyclodextrin-based nanoparticle technology. The cyclodextrin-based nanoparticle technology was originally developed at the California Institute of Technology and is being accessed by the Company through its license from Calando.