TPG, Vida back Asklepios in $235M round

TPG Capital and Vida Ventures have again teamed up to invest in a biotech's megaround, pouring a combined $225 million into gene therapy company Asklepios in exchange for a undisclosed minority stake. The company's founders and board members added another $10 million.

Founded in 2001 and spun out of the Gene Therapy Center at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Asklepios BioPharmaceutical Inc. (Chapel Hill, N.C.), also known as AskBio, is developing a pipeline of gene therapies for neuromuscular, CNS and cardiovascular indications. Co-founder Richard Jude Samulski is a pioneer in the use of viral vectors, while co-founder Xiao Xiao is a researcher specializing in muscular dystrophy...