Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance multiple product candidates from Selecta's Synthetic Vaccine Particle (SVP) platform, which creates antigen-specific immunotherapeutics, with priority implementation of the clinical program for Selecta's lead immunotherapeutic candidate, SEL-212, which is designed to be the first non-immunogenic biologic therapy for gout. The largest investor in this Series E round is OrbiMed, a leading institutional healthcare investor, and includes new investors, Sanofi-Genzyme BioVentures, Ridgeback Capital Management, Osage University Partners, AJU IB Investment and Sphera Global Health Care Fund, along with participation from all of Selecta's existing investors.

The Series E financing will allow Selecta to complete the on-going Phase 1 clinical program for SEL-212 in refractory and tophaceous gout, and then initiate a multi-dose ascending phase 2 study which is planned to start in 2016. Proceeds from the financing will also be used to advance the company's preclinical pipeline of antigen-specific immunotherapeutics toward clinical development, which includes candidates that are designed to prevent the life threatening rejections that are a key unmet medical need of gene therapies and Factor VIII therapies. Selecta is additionally developing first-in-class therapies for an undisclosed food allergy, celiac disease and type 1 diabetes, all in collaboration with Sanofi, whose venture capital division Sanofi-Genzyme BioVentures is an investor in this financing round.

'Selecta has demonstrated leadership in the field of immune therapeutics and has made strong progress with a completely novel class of products addressing multiple therapeutic areas with significant unmet needs,' said Carl Gordon, PhD, CFA, Partner at OrbiMed. 'We have great confidence in the high caliber management team and the rigorous science and clinical program behind SEL-212 and other immunotherapeutic candidates in Selecta's robust pipeline. We look forward to supporting Selecta's plans to open up new therapeutic opportunities and to bring innovative medicines to patients in need across a number of important disease areas, such as inhibition of immunogenicity of biologic therapies, treatment of allergies and treatment of autoimmune diseases.'

'With this oversubscribed round that includes a balance of crossover, strategic and venture investors, we are very pleased to see this strong support from the investor community for our antigen-specific immunotherapies. We now have the resources and investor base that will see us through the Phase 2 clinical development of SEL-212, the first non-immunogenic biologic therapy for gout, and the extension of our clinical pipeline into first ever non-immunogenic gene therapies and therapeutic biologics,' noted Werner Cautreels, PhD, President and CEO at Selecta.

In addition to the crossover and strategic investors who participated in this round, Selecta is backed by top-tier venture investors, including Polaris Venture Partners, Flagship Ventures, NanoDimension, Rusnano and Leukon Investments, who all participated in this round.

About Selecta

Selecta Biosciences, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel drugs that use immune modulating nanomedicines to generate targeted antigen-specific immune responses to prevent and treat disease. Selecta's proprietary Synthetic Vaccine Particle (SVP) platform creates a novel paradigm in immunotherapeutics and vaccines, enabling completely new applications while offering the potential of improved efficacy and safety profiles.

Selecta's immunomodulatory SVPs can induce antigen-specific immune tolerance, enabling them to be applied in a variety of therapeutic areas with large unmet medical need. The company is focused on three key near-term applications: inhibition of immunogenicity of biologic therapies, treatment of allergies and treatment of autoimmune diseases. Immunogenicity adversely affects the safety and efficacy profile for many biological therapies, and is known to have caused the termination of a number of promising biological therapies in clinical development. Selecta's SVP is a product engine that has the potential to unlock the full therapeutic value of biologic therapies.

Through proprietary products and collaborations with leading pharmaceutical companies and research organizations, Selecta is building a pipeline of product candidates to address unmet medical needs in serious and chronic diseases. Selecta Biosciences, Inc. is based in Watertown, Massachusetts, USA. For more information, please visit www.selectabio.com.