Private Company Edition: Amylyx will use its new cash to run a Phase III trial and submit applications seeking EU and Canadian approvals of AMX0035, but US filing plans based on prior Phase II/III data are less clear. Also, three VC firms raised new funds targeting biopharma and other investments.

The sector still attracts the attention of clinical investigators and the pharmaceutical industry, despite disappointing results from another clinical-stage candidate.

The exercising by Janssen Biotech of an option to develop OSE Immunotherapeutics’ Phase II-ready antibody fragment for autoimmune and transplant-associated disorders will give an early boost to the French biotech that only completed a merger several weeks ago.

In Vivo summarizes the technologies of several recently founded companies: Advanced BioChem Inc. provides contract protein biochemistry, immunoassay and proteomics services to companies developing pharmaceuticals and medical diagnostics tests. Arradial Inc. aims to accelerate the discovery and validation of therapeutic compounds with a personal desktop laboratory microarray screening system created jointly by Boston University and Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. Spun out of Evotec BioSystems AG, Direvo Biotech AG will use its directed evolution platform to optimize biomolecules for industrial applications, as well as to develop proteins for novel therapeutics. Evacyte Microarray Diagnostics Corp.'s new cancer detection device, the Optical Stretcher, uses laser beams to stretch individual cells, enabling doctors to extract very small samples to determine if cancer cells are present. Palumed SA is developing small molecule drugs for the treatment of malaria and other infectious diseases. Using technology developed by its founders at the University of Texas' MD Anderson Cancer Center and in collaboration with Tripos Inc., Signase Inc. will develop small-molecule inhibitors of protein tyrosine kinases to enhance the effectiveness of chemotherapy directed at various types of solid tumors.