uk - based biotech start - up Rubius Therapeutics has raised $ 120 m in a series B round led by parent company Flagship Pioneering ; marking one of the highest sums raised in 2016 . Considerable interest surrounds the company 's Rubius Erythrocyte Design platform , which manufactures significant amounts of red blood cells and re - engineers them at an early stage for different therapeutic purposes , from activating T - cells as part of a cancer immunotherapy to binding with tumour cells and triggering apoptosis - the natural death of cells that arise during growth .
Massachusetts-based biotech start-up Rubius Therapeutics has raised $120m in a series B round led by parent company Flagship Pioneering; marking one of the highest sums raised in 2017. Considerable interest surrounds the company's Rubius Erythrocyte Design platform, which manufactures significant amounts of red blood cells and re-engineers them at an early stage for different therapeutic purposes, from activating T-cells as part of a cancer immunotherapy to binding with tumour cells and triggering apoptosis - the natural death of cells that occurs during growth.