Rubius takes fundraising beyond $220 million

US biotech Rubius Therapeutics, which calls itself the world’s only company developing natural blood that has been made therapeutically active, has completed an oversubscribed $100 million crossover financing, adding to the $120 million that it raised nine months ago.

The company claims that its Red-Cell Therapeutics (RCT), genetically engineered, enucleated red cells that are being developed to provide allogeneic, ready-to-use cellular therapies, have the potential to provide transformational clinical benefits to a wide range of patients across multiple therapeutic areas.

With this funding, Rubius will accelerate the development of the RCT products towards clinical proof-of-concept, and will enhance its manufacturing capacity and capabilities. The company plans to advance several RCTs into clinical development by 2019.