Genocea Biosciences raises $30m in Series C financing

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Genocea Biosciences Inc., a Cambridge company advancing T cell vaccines for infectious diseases, said Wednesday that has raised $30 million in a Series C financing round, bringing its total equity funding to date to $76 million.

The Series C round included new investors the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and CVF LLC, an affiliate of Henry Crown and Co.

Also participating in the round were existing investors such as Polaris Venture Partners, Lux Capital, SR One, Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, Skyline Ventures, Cycad Group, Auriga Partners, MP Healthcare Ventures, and Morningside, Genocea said.

Funds raised will support the continued development of Genocea’s two lead programs: GEN-003, a vaccine candidate designed to reduce the frequency and severity of outbreaks associated with moderate-to-severe Herpes Simplex Virus type 2, and GEN-004, a vaccine candidate to prevent infections caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, the company said in a press release.