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Gene&Cell Therapy >> Cormorant nears the close of fifth private healthcare fund as biotech industry sees greener pastures: Cormorant Asset Management has been on a tear lately. The Boston-based firm plans to close its fifth private healthcare fund this month, founder Bihua Chen said. The firm has reached its $400 million target for the fund, Chen told Endpoints News on Friday. The investment firm, a little over a decade old, has taken part in multiple megarounds for biotechs in recent weeks for a variety of areas (epilepsy cell therapy, oncology small molecules, plus a muscle-preserving weight loss combination treatment) and successfully brought its second special purpose acquisition company onto the Nasdaq when many other investors backed away. Cormorant was one of the top 10 most active private biopharma investors of 2023, per a January report from investment bank William Blair. The firm is also a shareholder in some companies that have gone public in recent quarters, including CARGO Therapeutics and Neumora Therapeutics, per SEC paperwork. “Given my public market experience, Cormorant was started as a hedge fund, but I had always had interest in private investing because we have always been long term-focused,” Chen said. The firm started investing in the private markets about two years after launching and hit a key milestone in December 2015 with its first separate private fund. Chen has had a strong pulse on the industry for many years and sees across an array of innovations via board seats at more than a dozen medical device and biotechnology companies, per SEC filings. That covers epigenetic editing startup Chroma Medicine, Sam Waksal-led Graviton Bioscience, US and Belgian molecular glue maker Orionis Biosciences, and medical device companies like Myra Vision and Akura Medical. Cormorant is also hunting for the next biotech company to combine its second SPAC with after its first one helped bring MoonLake Immunotherapeutics onto the Nasdaq. Chen wants the “same rigor in terms of science and data and a commercial aspect” for a SPAC combination target. “It’s not extra work in terms of finding this company because Cormorant is constantly looking for this kind of company to begin with,” Chen said. “The extra work in execution, we’ve done it before. We are experienced in that.” #lucidquest #genetherapy #celltherapy

Here is a good story about a successful biotech investor.

Well deserved! Very proud to have spotted this trend early on and featured BoobyBiome in our report last year: FemTech Futures 30: The 30 most influential trends shaping the market in 2024. In it we said: "BoobyBiome uses bacteria sourced from breast milk donated by healthy mothers. While the gut microbiome has been gaining attention in recent years, research around baby microbiomes is only just reaching public consciousness. As awareness spreads, we expect to see new regulations around microbiome-based products and therapeutics, which will give parents the peace of mind required to feed their babies probiotics and explore additional solutions for securing their healthy futures." Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/ebCEdPg6 #trendforecasting #womenshealthtrends #trends2024 #womenshealth #femtech

As the new year approaches, current economic shifts may cause some funding challenges next year. What are some of the best ways to secure new deal transactions, especially if they are attending this year’s JPMorgan Healthcare Conference? On January 4, join the BioSpace Roundtable discussion on “Alternative Funding Strategies,” where host Lori Ellis will lead the discussion on different funding options, current challenges, how to weather adversity, and what investment trends are anticipated in 2024. Panelists featured in this roundtable include: • Jeff Burton, CFO, Halia Therapeutics, Inc. • Karen Harris, CFO and head of Mission-Related Investing, Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation • Rob Williamson, President and COO, Triumvira Immunologics, Inc. To register for the live roundtable on January 4, please visit: https://bit.ly/3RtN99b #Biotech2024 #MarketInsights #JPM2024 #JPM24

From Penicillin to Digital Therapeutics and the Pace of Change in Life Sciences: Where are the Dollars Flowing? An upcoming webinar from SCIEX provides an overview of where the industry is going relative to life sciences investing and where the industry can anticipate significant growth in the near future. Register here: https://ow.ly/svPq50R62tg

𝐓𝐏𝐆 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 $𝟓𝟖𝟎𝐌 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝: 𝐀 𝐌𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 TPG has unveiled a $580 million fund dedicated to life sciences, named TPG Life Sciences Innovations (LSI). This fund, which has already started investing in promising biotech companies, aims to support the development of novel therapeutics, digital health, medical devices, diagnostics, and tech-enabled services. 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐅𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬: Most of the fund’s capital will go into preclinical and clinical-stage therapeutics companies. Therapeutic areas include oncology, immunology and inflammation (I&I), cardiometabolic diseases, ophthalmology, and rare diseases. 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐬: - MBrace Therapeutics: MBrace raised $85 million in a Series B financing round led by TPG LSI, bringing its total funding to over $110 million. The funds will accelerate the clinical development of their antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) pipeline, particularly for difficult-to-treat cancers such as breast, non-small cell lung, and pancreatic cancers. - Sudo Biosciences: Sudo secured $116 million in a Series B round to advance its TYK2 inhibitors for treating multiple sclerosis and psoriasis. This funding aims to push two investigational candidates into clinical trials by 2024, addressing significant unmet needs in neuroinflammation and autoimmune diseases. - Santa Ana Bio, Inc.: An immunology startup focusing on innovative treatments in the immunology space. - Bicara Therapeutics: An oncology-focused biotech company developing novel therapeutics. 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐓𝐏𝐆 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: TPG LSI partners with companies developing disruptive science and technologies to improve outcomes for patients with significant unmet medical needs. The fund leverages TPG's extensive expertise in various therapeutic areas and aims to advance breakthrough technologies to clinical proof-of-concept. TPG has invested over $30 billion in healthcare since 2003, focusing on oncology, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, cardiometabolic diseases, ophthalmology, rare diseases, and commercial stage medical devices.

Such a great and detailed approach to evaluating early stage pharmaceuticals and biotech from an investor perspective. I'm supportive of standardizing pitch decks to follow this approach: target validation, evidence & belief in the pharmacology, path to PoC, and product opportunity. I think many early stage founders in the life sciences omit information about target validation and pharmacology because we "assume" angel investors & VC don't care about the science details, and would rather see market impact, the founding team, and the projected financials, but the right investor should care about the underlying science and feel compelled by it.

Read our latest Q&A with Oncocyte Corporation ($OCX) CFO Andrea S. James as she sheds light on her personal career path and the experiences that led to her senior role with the molecular diagnostics technology company. https://bit.ly/3SXb1Ua #investors #oncocyte #stockstowatch #stocksinnews #investors #daytrader #PrismMarketView #PrismMediaWire #PrismDigitalMedia

🧐 Sanofi announced it will acquire Inhibrx for $30/share in cash + a $5 CVR if their AAT enzyme replacement program meets a regulatory milestone. All other assets in development, including a Ph2 DR5 agonist for oncology and 2x Ph1 immuno-onc programs will be spun out into a new publicly-traded entity capitalized with $200M. Existing shareholders will receive 1 share in this “New Inhibrx” for each 4 shares in Inhibrx. New Inhibrx will be 92% owned by existing shareholders. At a current trading price of ~$35, it looks like a compelling opportunity if you like Inhibrx’s other programs.