Zymeworks, a privately held biotherapeutics company, has completed a financing round totaling $8.1 million. The financing consists of a follow-on round of institutional investment by CTI Life Sciences Fund, as well as a new investment by Advanced Biotechnologies Venture Fund and investments by several existing private shareholders. Zymeworks will use the proceeds to advance its Azymetric and AlbuCORE platforms, as well as the development of its protein therapeutics pipeline in the areas of cancer, autoimmunity and inflammatory diseases.

"Zymeworks has made significant advances in its antibody and protein-therapeutics engineering platforms. In light of the recent announcement of a deal with Merck and key internal milestones related to its platform technologies, we remain enthusiastic about Zymeworks' unique approach to developing best-in-class biologics, and look forward to being a part of Zymeworks' future success," says Dr. Shermaine Tilley, partner at CTI Life Sciences Fund.