OvaScience completes $37M Series B financing

OvaScience^™, a fertility company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel treatments for infertility, today announced that it has completed a $37 million Series B financing. The financing was led by General Catalyst. Existing investors, Bessemer Venture Partners and Longwood Fund, were joined by new, top-tier investors BBT Capital Management Advisors, LLC, Cycad Group, Hunt BioVentures, RA Capital and a large, global institutional investor, among others. In conjunction with this financing, John Simon, managing director of General Catalyst, has joined the OvaScience board of directors. Leerink Swann LLC acted as lead placement agent for the offering.

OvaScience plans to use the proceeds from the financing to support the development and commercialization of its fertility treatment approaches based on the egg precursor cell discoveries of OvaScience co-founder Jonathan Tilly, Ph.D., director of the Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology, chief of research for Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Vincent Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School (HMS). OvaScience holds an exclusive license from MGH to an issued U.S. patent and various patent applications related to Dr. Tilly's egg precursor cell discoveries.

"Under the leadership of its world-class management and scientific teams, OvaScience has great potential to develop and commercialize new fertility treatment options for women," said John Simon, managing director of General Catalyst. "OvaScience is rapidly advancing its patented fertility technology aimed at improving fertility outcomes, and we're pleased to be part of a company that has a unique and differentiated approach in an area with a clear, unmet need."

"OvaScience is focused on improving the success rates of fertility treatment options currently available for women," said Michelle Dipp, M.D., Ph.D., chief executive officer of OvaScience. "As a result of this financing, the company expects to be able to advance its pipeline of fertility treatment approaches."