Dartmouth engineering professor Tillman Gergross' Lebanon-based firm, "Avitide, the manufacturer of molecule-specific biopharmaceutical affinity purification solutions developed for clinical and commercial manufacturing processes, announced yesterday it closed on Series E financing," writes NH Business Review.

"Sands Capital Ventures led the financing round ... The proceeds will be used to fund ongoing operations with a target to reach profitability by 2019. According to Avitide’s press release, affinity purification platform have been successfully deployed against an array of bio-molecules such as enzymes, antibody-based therapeutics, recombinant vaccines and gene therapies.

"... 'Sands Capital Ventures has a strong track record building profitable life science tool companies; they share our view of building a sustainable, profitable company, and we are very much looking forward to working with them,' said Tillman Gerngross, co-founder and chairman of the board.

"A well-known entrepreneur, Gerngross co-founded Avitide with Dartmouth student Kevin Isett, former Thayer researcher Warren Kett and John Sheller in 2013 while working out of Gerngross’ lab at Thayer School of Engineering. The company currently employs 35 people and has partnered with several major pharma companies."