Biovex raises $70 million to fund breakthrough cancer treatment

Biovex, which aims to bring the first cancer-destroying virus to market in the United States in 2011, has completed a $70 million funding round, marking one of the biggest successful venture funding rounds in the biotech sector.

Biovex, which raised $40 million in March, closed the round with an injection of $30 million from new investors including Morningside Venture, Ventech, MVM Life Science Partners, Sectoral Asset Management and Ysios Capital Partners, joining existing investors which include SEP.

The new funds will pay for late stage (Phase III) clinical trials for OncoVEX, a product which has delivered highly effective results in an earlier trial for the treatment of advanced skin cancer (melanoma).

OncoVEX is an experimental cancer-destroying virus designed to invade cancer cells and kill them, leaving healthy cells unaffected. It is regarded as an extremely promising treatment for many hard-to-treat types of cancer.

BioVex Chief Executive Philip Astley-Sparke said the company is aiming to file OncoVEX for regulatory review in 2011. If it obtains regulatory approval it would represent a major medical milestone in the treatment of cancer.