Visterra, a developer of products for the prevention of infectious diseases, has raised $13 million in venture capital, according to a new filing by the company with the SEC. Eight separate investors participated in the offering.

Visterra is dedicated to the discovery and development of innovative products for the prevention, treatment and diagnosis of infectious diseases. Visterra utilizes an integrated technology platform, built around its unique structural understanding of the role of glycans (complex sugars) in infectious disease, to rationally design drug candidates which are both more effective and refractory to resistance development. In contrast to screening approaches, Visterra's structure-based engineering approach yields customized drug candidates that cannot be created by, nor harvested from, the human immune system. The company has established proof of concept with its lead therapeutic product candidate for influenza.