BRIEF—Novo Ventures portfolio company F2G closes $60.8 million financing

F2G Ltd, a UK- and Austria-based biotech developing novel therapies for life-threatening systemic fungal infections, and a Novo Ventures portfolio company. has secured $60.8 million in new financing from new and existing investors.

Naveed Siddiqi, a partner at Novo Ventures, joins the F2G board of directors, replacing Martin Edwards who is retiring.

Proceeds from the financing will be used to fund F2G’s late-stage clinical programs for olorofim, formerly dubbed F901318, its novel antifungal agent, and organizational scale-up in preparation for commercialization.

Olorofim is in a Phase IIb open-label study focussing on rare and resistant life-threatening invasive fungal infections, such as invasive aspergillosis (including azole-resistant strains), scedosporiosis, lomentosporiosis, fusariosis, scopulariopsosis, and coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever).

Olorofim was granted Breakthrough Therapy designation (BTD) in November 2019 by the US Food and Drug Administration, the only antifungal agent ever to have been awarded this status based on early tolerability and efficacy data.

Olorofim has the potential to be the first truly novel mechanism antifungal therapy for nearly twenty years and represents a very significant market opportunity in excess of $6 billion, in an area of high unmet clinical need.