Finance Watch

Private Company Edition: The global accelerator has new commitments from HHS and the Wellcome Trust. Also, Apollo buys into Sofinnova Partners with an up to €1bn investment, Castle Creek raised $124.6m in private funding this year in lieu of an IPO and Remix closed a $70m series B round. 

Public Company Edition: Applied Molecular Transport, Scholar Rock, Agios and others join many of their peers in revising their strategies and downsizing their teams. Also, Zentalis grossed $200m from a follow-on offering and OKYO Pharma went public in the year’s smallest biopharma IPO in the US. 

Private Company Edition: Also, Catalio closed a $381m venture capital fund and OrbiMed’s SEC filings indicate it is in the process of raising $4.75bn across three new funds. Dianthus launched with $100m and Tubulis closed a $63m series B round.

Public Company Edition: Bausch remains the majority shareholder, but B+L is a separate operating company. Also, Rezolute raises $130m in dual financings and BridgeBio outlines job cuts and will out-license assets to conserve cash.

Sio Gene, Genocea, Solid Biosciences, Saniona and Black Diamond join First Wave, Zosano, Vallon, Finch, Magenta, ProQR and Imara on the growing list of biopharma firms reducing headcount to make their cash last until valuations return to a level that may support new fundraising. 

Also, Cytovia will go public via SPAC merger, Nkarta capitalized on its positive early NK cell therapy data with a $230m offering, and venture capital mega-rounds include $220m for Reify, $110m for Satellite Bio and $100m for OMass Therapeutics. 

Public Company Edition: Blackstone Life Sciences Yield will finance approved products, while the firm’s prior fund supports late-stage programs. Also, Coeptis will merge with a SPAC, Bausch + Lomb secured post-IPO debt, and BioXcel revealed a $260m financing and new subsidiary.

Private Company Edition: In other venture capital mega-rounds, Aurion brought in $120m, Sionna launched with $111m and Irish firm Renexxion said a private equity group committed up to $100m in total investment to be made within 36 months of a future public listing. 

Public Company Edition: Only nine drug developers went public in the US, raising $807m in the first quarter, versus 32 IPOs raising $5.2bn in Q1 of last year. Also, MoonLake closed its SPAC merger, Sanofi priced €650m in sustainability-linked bonds in €1.5bn note sale, and Kaleido will cease operations.

Private Company Edition: 5AM revealed two funds totaling $450m and $300m, V-Bio raised a €110m venture capital fund and AXA IM Alts committed $500m for health care private equity deals. Also, TRIANA launched with $110m and the AMR Action Fund backs Adaptive Phage Therapeutics.

Private Company Edition: Westlake Village BioPartners-founded Neuron23 will take the LRRK2 inhibitor NEU-723 for Parkinson’s disease into human testing before the end of 2022. Also, Celsius raised $83m in fresh VC cash and ITM added another €33m to its recent €25m equity financing.

Public Company Edition: An IPO and three big follow-on offerings hit the market but other public companies revealed plans to cut costs or reprioritize their R&D pipelines, signaling that uncertainty remains.