Oxagen, a drug discovery and development company, on Monday announced a $60-million second round of financing to support its work on anti-inflammatories and respiratory drugs.

MPM Capital led the second round with new investments from Bessemer Venture Partners, IBT, and Red Abbey. Existing investors SV Life Sciences, Advent Ventures, 3i, Abingworth, and The Wellcome Trust also invested.

Oxagen was founded in 1997 and is based in Milton Park, England.

VC investment in biotech startups dropped 56 percent in the first quarter from the same quarter last year, shrinking to $656.6 million from $1.50 billion, according to VentureOne.

However, five of the top 10 acquisitions during the quarter involved biotechs, with prices totaling $1.75 billion. Half of the quarter’s first eight IPOs were also biotech companies, raising $171.8 million.

Although biotechs such as Oxagen have been hot investment vehicles, European liquidity markets have recently been flat. IPO values fell to €253.9 million ($322.6 million) from €263.6 million a year earlier, according to VentureOne.

Acquisitions fared little better, with the number of venture-backed acquisitions falling more than 26 percent to 34 for the continent (see Europe Liquidity Dries Up).