BRIEF—$80 million financing for Aura Biosciences

Oncology specialist Aura Biosciences has raised $80 million in a financing round led by Matrix Capital Management and Surveyor Capital.

The firm is working on a novel class of virus-like drug conjugate (VDC) therapies for multiple oncology indications, and will use the money to advance the clinical development of its platform.

This will include a Phase III study of lead candidate AU-011, in development for the first-line treatment of choroidal melanoma.

Chief executive Elisabet de los Pinos said the funds would allow the firm to expand its efforts into “additional ocular oncology indications and in the treatment of solid tumors like bladder cancer where there is a high unmet medical need for better targeted therapies to treat early and reduce the incidence of metastasis.”