The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board are participating in the initial round of financing for Seattle-based Sana Biotechnology Inc.
With the help of other investors, the initial financing comes to more than US$700 million. The financing is aimed at helping the company bolster its core platforms — gene delivery, immunology, stem cell biology and gene modification and control.
“The commitment from this group of long-term investors enables us to concentrate on making discoveries that overcome the most important challenges to making gene and cell therapies that improve the lives of a broad swath of patients,” said Steve Harr, the company’s president and chief executive officer, in a press release. “I am proud of our progress to date in turning our technologies into potential therapies for serious diseases such as cancer, central nervous system diseases, heart disease and various genetic disorders.”
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In other investment news, OMERS Ventures, the venture capital arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, led a US$10.5-million series A extension funding round for U.S. residential real estate firm Landed. As part of the deal, Michael Yang, managing partner at OMERS Ventures, will join Landed’s board.
The organization provides shared-equity down-payment programs for essential workers, starting with educators who are seeking to purchase homes in the communities where they work. Through the program, Landed co-invests in real estate with the buyers, helping them reach a 20 per cent down payment in a home, funding up to US$120,000 per household. Landed’s investment takes the form of equity, whereby they share a portion of the gain or loss of the value of the home upon its sale or refinance.
Read: Caisse real estate arm partnering to provide retail tenants with e-commerce solutions