Start-Ups & SMEs

The frontrunner in the new protein degrader class has shown lackluster Phase II results in breast cancer, but Arvinas hopes for success in less heavily pre-treated patients in Phase III.

Private Company Edition: In the latest round of $100m-plus venture capital financings, CG Oncology, MBX Biosciences and Jnana Therapeutics raised $120m, $115m and $107m, respectively. Also, MVM Partners closed a $500m fund and former Sage CEO leads incubator ABio-X in Massachusetts.

Leaders from three companies that have managed to achieve successful turnarounds offered some advice and encouragement to biotechs weathering the current financial downturn at the recent Jefferies Healthcare conference in London.

Industry investors foresee continued hardship for public companies still without compelling clinical data for their assets, plus the growing influence of the US Inflation Reduction Act on biopharma strategy.

Stay patient and concentrate on building trust rather than the bank balance was one of the key pieces of advice offered by business development heads at Regeneron and Eli Lilly to start-ups attending the recent BIO-Europe meeting.

Private Company Edition: The Paragon Biosciences-founded Emalex previously raised $35m when ecopipam was in Phase II. Also, Catalio Capital launches a “special situations” fund, Zenas raises $118m to develop a pipeline of autoimmune disease treatments and Lusaris emerges with $60m.

Human Immunology Biosciences (HI-Bio) launched with $120m and two candidates from MorphoSys, including the CD38 inhibitor felzartamab already in the clinic for immune-mediated kidney diseases.

In this week's podcast edition of Five Must-Know Things: BMS looks to new launches amid patent losses; Novartis prioritizes high-value medicines and the US market; Biogen learns from Aduhelm experience; J&J builds myeloma franchise; and Asian bioventures debate best strategies.

Private Company Edition: The amount of venture capital investment in biopharma companies has shrunk from quarter to quarter, but the average deal size remained high until the third quarter. Larger rounds from Treeline, Odyssey and Neumora offset a plethora of smaller VC financings early in Q4. 

With the global market in sight, several Asian bioventures discussed at BioJapan event recent projects, strategies and challenges in expanding their businesses in APAC. The different characteristics of policies by country and facets of venture capital funding were some of the topics when speakers talked about “what's the ideal collaboration between Asian bioventures?”

The Oxford University spin-out has raised $37.5m in a series A thanks to its technology which pinpoints the link between genes and diseases and maps pathways for drug discovery.

Private Company Edition: Third quarter venture capital funding for biopharmaceutical firms fell from Q2, but activity remains near all-time highs year-to-date. Several companies announced VC financings in early October, including Ascidian, which launched with $50m in series A financing.