AstraZeneca invests in US oral biologics firm Rani Therapeutics

The latest round of funding brings Rani Therapeutics’ total investment to over $70m. Other investors in the round were Virtus Inspire Ventures and Ping An Ventures.

The company’s existing investors include Novartis, Google Ventures, InCube Ventures, VentureHealth, and others.

Rani Therapeutics plans to use the funding to expand its team, construct new facilities and scale up its manufacturing activities.

Founded in 2012 and spun out of InCube Labs, Rani is developing a technology platform to convert injectable drugs like TNF-alpha inhibitors, interleukin antibodies, basal insulin and GLP-1 into oral pills.

The company is collaborating with MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, and Novartis to test its platform with selected drugs.

Rani Therapeutics chairman & CEO Mir Imran said: "We developed Rani Therapeutics with a clear vision – give patients suffering from chronic illnesses a convenient, easy and painless alternative to subcutaneous injections.

"Our team has created a breakthrough drug delivery platform supported by a solid patent portfolio and that is what is attracting potential partners and investors. We are pleased with our progress, and are now laser focused on demonstrating value for a variety of therapies."

Rani recently appointed Robert Gaffney as vice president of operations to lead its expansion.

Prior to Rani, Gaffney worked at Spinal Modulation, an InCube Labs firm acquired by St. Jude Medical last year, where he served as COO.