ElevateBio announced Wednesday morning that it raised $401 million in a Series D funding round, one of the largest sums of any healthcare company in recent history.

The company, which focuses on developing cell and gene therapies, had its financing effort led by AyurMaya Capital Management Fund and received contributions from several notable investors, including Novo Nordisk, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Vertex Ventures, among others. This was the company’s first funding round since 2021

ElevateBio said it will use the additional capital to further the development of its technology platforms like subsidiary Life Edit Therapeutics’ novel RNA-guided nucleases and base editing capabilities as well as BaseCamp, its end-to-end genetic medicine manufacturing and process development line. 

The company also made a leadership move, appointing Khalil Barrage, managing director of The Invus Group, to its board of directors.

“We have made significant strides in scaling our technologies and end-to-end capabilities in our pursuit to become the world’s most indispensable cell and gene therapy technology company. We are thrilled to welcome Khalil to our Board as his expertise will be invaluable as the number of strategic partners harnessing the power of our integrated ecosystem continues to grow,” ElevateBio CEO David Hallal said in a statement. “We’re emboldened by the pace of advancements to our technology platforms and continue to drive innovation from concept through commercialization and redefine how companies operate, how products are created, and how disease is treated.”

In addition to the funding success, ElevateBio’s subsidiary Life Edit Therapeutics announced that it has signed a multi-target collaboration with Novo Nordisk.

As part of the arrangement, ElevateBio will receive an upfront cash payment in addition to Novo’s equity investment and will be eligible to receive potential milestone payments between $250 million and $335 million for each of the seven programs featured. Meanwhile, Life Edit has an option to opt into a global profit sharing arrangement for one program.

“We are excited about the opportunity to co-create novel treatments for multiple genetic diseases based on Life Edit’s gene editing technologies,” Novo’s chief scientific officer Marcus Schindler, PhD, said in a statement.