ANN ARBOR – In what is said to be the largest venture capital round in Michigan history, Millendo Therapeutics, formerly known as Atterocor Inc., announced this week it raised $62 million that will be used, in part, to pay new partner AstraZeneca for the rights to market a new cancer-fighting drug. The pharmaceutical giant also took an equity stake in Millendo. 

Another life sciences company held the previous Michigan record for biggest VC round, Plymouth Township-based ProNAi Therapeutics, which raised $59.5 million in 2014. Last July, ProNAi went public and generated $158 million in stock sales.

News of Millendo’s record-setting VC round impressed Stephen Rapundalo, President and CEO of MichBio, the state’s life sciences trade association.

“For MichBio, this news speaks to the vibrancy of the life sciences industry in Michigan,” Rapundalo said. “Millendo is another success story we can hang our hats on in Michigan. We need more of those. Nothing catches investors’ attention like getting a big chunk of change. We need that 100 times over in Michigan now.”

Rapundalo said the Millendo management team was no doubt a big selling point for AstraZeneca. He said Millendo president and CEO Julia Owens is a seasoned serial entrepreneur who originally worked in the biotech industry in the San Francisco Bay area. He called her circle of investor connections “pretty impressive.”

Other Millendo executive officers include:

Dr. Stephen Hunt is an experienced drug-hunter and executive manager with more than 20 years of biotech and big pharma experience taking molecular targets and compounds from idea through preclinical development.

Dr. Pharis Mohideen has extensive experience across the full spectrum of drug development in a broad range of therapeutic areas, including orphan, endocrine and metabolic diseases.

Jeffery Brinza has extensive experience in operations and as in-house counsel for pharmaceutical and life sciences companies and has been engaged in the practice of law for nearly 30 years.

Dr. Marianne Plaunt has more than 28 years of experience in clinical and diagnostic research in the academic, applied R&D, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

“If you have got the right product, right idea, right concept, and data to prove it and then show it to investors, they will respond,” Rapundalo said. “It is what Millendo has taken advantage of.”

Maureen Miller-Brosnan, executive director of the Michigan Venture Capital Association, described the Millendo Series B round “as a really big deal.”

“It goes along with so much of the success we saw coming out of 2015,” she said. “It helps solidify the message that Michigan is the place to be for venture capital investment and entrepreneurial start-ups.”

Miller-Brosnan said life sciences constitute 56 percent of total VC and Angel investments in Michigan. She also confirmed $62 million is the largest VC round ever in the state.

“We believe we have the infrastructure and talent in Michigan to move these research elements forward,” she said. “We think we have the recipe to make bioscience and a whole host of other technology start-ups work.”

The Millendo financing was led by New Enterprise Associates and included new investors Roche Venture Fund, Adams Street Partners, Altitude Life Science Ventures, Longwood Fund, and Renaissance Venture Capital Fund, along with current Millendo investors Frazier Healthcare Partners, Osage University Partners, 5AM Ventures, and the Regents of the University of Michigan under the MINTS Program (Michigan Investment in New Technology Startup). In conjunction with the financing, Tracy Saxton of the Roche Venture Fund will join Millendo’s Board of Directors and Carol Gallagher will represent New Enterprise Associates, shifting from her role as an independent board member.