Dicerna secures $4 million in second closing of Series B equity financing

Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Dicerna), a second generation RNA interference (RNAi) company developing novel therapeutics utilizing its proprietary Dicer Substrate Technology™ and Dicer Substrate siRNA (DsiRNA) molecules, today announced a second closing of its Series B equity financing, securing an additional $4 million and bringing the total capital raised in this round to $29 million. New investor SR One, the independent corporate healthcare venture capital arm of GlaxoSmithKline, participated in this closing and joins the existing investor syndicate, which includes Oxford Bioscience Partners, Skyline Ventures, Abingworth and Domain Associates, who all previously participated in this round. In conjunction with this investment, Brian M. Gallagher, Jr., Ph.D., a partner at SR One, will become an observer on Dicerna's board of directors.

“We are very excited about the broad potential for RNAi therapeutics to treat diseases caused by a large number of gene targets that are considered 'undruggable' with today's pharmacologic treatments”

"We are very pleased to welcome SR One to our syndicate of top tier investors," said Doug M. Fambrough, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Dicerna. "Following our first close of the Series B in August, we re-opened the round due to significant additional interest from the investment community in our unique Dicer Substrate Technology platform and next generation approach to developing RNAi therapeutics. The SR One team offers a high level of sophistication, success with emerging life sciences companies and a long history of setting the standard for corporate venture capital investing in the biotech sector. We welcome Brian as a board observer and look forward to SR One's input as we continue to advance our pipeline of DsiRNA molecules and delivery systems."

"We are very excited about the broad potential for RNAi therapeutics to treat diseases caused by a large number of gene targets that are considered 'undruggable' with today's pharmacologic treatments," said Dr. Gallagher. "We are particularly impressed with Dicerna's management team and the superior potency and longer duration of action demonstrated with DsiRNA molecules, as well as the applicability of these next generation RNAi compounds to delivery with a variety of approaches such as targeted delivery and nanoparticles. Dicerna squarely met our strategic investment criteria, as SR One seeks to invest in early stage companies pursuing innovative approaches to developing breakthrough science."

Proceeds from the Series B financing will be used to advance Dicerna's lead in-house program in oncology towards clinical development and progress its other preclinical programs. The company also plans to use the proceeds to continue to develop its delivery technologies, including its proprietary lipid nanoparticle system and novel lipid platform, and targeted delivery systems which combine Dicerna's DsiRNA molecules with targeting moieties such as peptides, aptamers or antibodies.