Startup Rise America News’ Post

Recent Funding:  Neurona Therapeutics (San Francisco) raises $120M to take #epilepsy cell therapy to late-stage development in what is expected to be its last private financing round. The funding will be used to wrap up an open-label study this year and move its epilepsy #celltherapy into a randomized Phase II in 2025. The financing brings the nine-year-old biotech’s total capital haul to date to about $285 million. Neurona will assess market conditions about an IPO as its next financing step. Scion Life Sciences made its debut as a venture firm, announcing the close of a $310 million fund to invest in new #biotechnology startups. Sam Hall, Aaron Kantoff and Tadd Wessel are the co-founders of Scion Life Sciences, a venture fund affiliated with Petrichor Healthcare Capital Management. Led by a trio of biotech veterans with experience at firms like ATP (Apple Tree Partners) and Medicxi, Scion plans to focus initially on backing a half-dozen life sciences companies. The NYC-based firm closed its inaugural fund amid newfound optimism in biotech, which has been boosted by an uptick in dealmaking and IPO activity. M&A, Deals, Partnerships: Gilead Sciences to snap up liver disease biotech CymaBay Therapeutics (Newark, CA) for $4.3 billion six months before the FDA is expected to make an approval decision on its rare liver disease drug candidate. CymaBay’s seladelpar cleared its Phase III test in patients with primary biliary cholangitis last September, and the FDA set an approval decision deadline of Aug 14. The rare chronic disease mainly impacts women, about 130,000 in the US. PBC derails liver function, with itching and fatigue as early signs. IPOs: Kyverna Therapeutics (Emeryville) lands $319M #IPO as #autoimmune CAR-T field has its moment in the sun, riding a small but welcome wave of investor enthusiasm for IPOs. The mid-stage cell therapy maker priced at $22 apiece, selling 14.5 million shares $KYTX at a valuation of about $898 million. The biotech was able to haul in a larger chunk of capital than originally expected.   Metagenomi, a gene editing startup spun out of research at University of California, Berkeley, brought in about $93.8 million in the biotech sector’s sixth IPO of the year. The company sold 6.25 million shares at $15 apiece, toward the low end of a range it set earlier last week. The offering will fund the development of #genetic medicines for a variety of conditions, including #hemophilia and transthyretin amyloidosis. FDA Approvals: Corvus Pharmaceuticals announced that the FDA granted Orphan Drug Designation for soquelitinib for the treatment of T cell lymphoma. Soquelitinib, the Company’s lead ITK inhibitor candidate, is expected to advance into a Phase 3 registrational clinical trial in patients with relapsed peripheral T cell lymphoma (PTCL) in the Q2 2024.

Here's to the BioSpace 2024 top #lifescience #startups 👇, the innovators of #biotech, the brave and scrappy one-asset drug develpers in the clinic. May 2024 bring you nothing but good data, approvals, funding, suitors, and much success. 👏 👏 👏 1. Rapport Therapeutics 2. Apogee Therapeutics 3. CARGO Therapeutics 4. Aera Therapeutics 5. Nido Biosciences 6. ReNAgade Therapeutics 7. Orbital Therapeutics 8. Abdera Therapeutics 9. SonoThera 10. Bitterroot Bio 11. Belharra Therapeutics 12. Kate Therapeutics 13. Convergent Therapeutics, Inc. 14. Cajal Neuroscience 15. Matchpoint Therapeutics 16. Bonum Therapeutics 17. Juvena Therapeutics 18. Georgiamune Inc. 19. Nested Therapeutics 20. Crossbow Therapeutics, Inc 21. Ascidian Therapeutics 22. Delve Bio 23. Alterome Therapeutics, Inc 24. LinusBio 25. Actio Biosciences, Inc. 26. i2o Therapeutics 27. Initial Therapeutics 28. Entact Bio 29. Rezo Therapeutics 30. Aether

#Mesenbio secures £1.4million in #funding. Together with grant funding from Innovate UK, DSW Ventures and NG Bio co-led the round. With the help of the funds, the company will be able to conduct pre-clinical research, build pilot #manufacturing processes, hire three new employees, and get the regulatory dossier ready for #clinical trials. Mesenbio, founded by Dr. David Kuntin and Professor Paul Genever, is developing an innovative #therapy for arthritis made from modified human stem cells. The medicine is based on their work at the #Biomedical Research Institute at the University of York. A #biopharmaceutical startup from the University of York, Mesenbio is in the preclinical stage. Their Cell Line #Extracellular Vesicle Release (CLEVR) platform addresses the most common hurdle in #extracellular vesicle therapeutics consistency, allowing us to pursue a diverse #therapeutic pipeline. Mesenbio DSW Ventures NG Bio David Kuntin Paul Genever To share your startup story write us on - contact@startuprise.co.uk #mesenbio #funding #eustartup

Allow us to share with you the joy of our recent investment in Lime Therapeutics 🔬 – US-based biotech startup developing a game-changing drug discovery platform. Using an ultrasensitive lipid detection technology, the platform is able to target conditions such as cancer, metabolic disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases. Founded by a team with expertise in immunology, nanosensor technologies, and drug discovery, Lime Therapeutics has established relevant partnerships with pharmaceutical companies. 🤝 Huge congrats to the core team | Shardule Shah, PhD, MBA | Prakrit Jena | Daniel Heller | Mariluz Soula, PhD | on their progress up to date and looking forward to watching their future path 🚀 For more info see the link to a full article in comments. #investment #startup #biotech #lipidmetabolism #lipidbiology #lipiddysfunction #cancersucks #stopcancer #drugdiscovery

Half of 2024 has passed, how is the US Biotech market? There seems to be signs of recovery, both in terms of primary market financing events and the number of IPOs. In terms of IPOs, according to Deloitte statistics, the New York Stock Exchange ranks first and Nasdaq remains second. According to statistics from Endpoints News, at least 50 Biotech companies in the primary market announced financing of US $100 million or more in the first half of this year. Most of the Biotech companies that raised money in the United States in the first half of this year are not limited to the traditional oncology track, such as Hercules, Mirador Therapeutics, Uniquity Bio, AltruBio, Beacon Therapeutics, etc. Areas other than oncology include obesity, cardiovascular, autoimmunity, ophthalmology, neuroscience, gene therapy, etc. What’s interesting is that a few years ago, Chinese pharmaceutical companies packaged several pipeline assets from BD in the United States into high-tech companies for financing and listing, but now it is American companies that use Chinese assets to finance and go public.

Breaking through in Biotech 🧬💡 Ipsen has joined forces with Skyhawk Therapeutics, leveraging a massive $1.8 billion R&D collaboration to bring forward new candidates targeting RNA with small molecules—a leap towards conquering "undruggable" proteins in neuroscience. Skyhawk, a pioneer in the space, has already turned heads with its impressive partnership roster, including the likes of Genentech and Merck & Co. Now, Ipsen brings its neuroscience acumen, particularly in movement disorders, to the table. The goal? To drive forward solutions for rare neurological diseases, with the French drugmaker's eye on global rights. For Ipsen, it's a strategic play. They're investing in external innovation—and with $2 billion in their coffers for precisely this kind of outward growth, the stakes are clear. The upfront fees remain undisclosed, but the commitment is evident with potential payoffs reaching the billion-dollar mark, plus added tiered royalties. While specifics are buttoned up, one thing is certain: Ipsen's expertise in conditions like Huntington's disease aligns perfectly with Skyhawk's cutting-edge efforts. It's a partnership that speaks to the heart of innovation. 🤝🔬 #BiotechCollaborations #RNArevolution #NeuroscienceInnovation

🚀 Major Funding Boost for Neurodegenerative Disease Research! 🧠 Forbion-backed Vectory Therapeutics has successfully raised $138 million to advance research into ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases. This significant funding will accelerate the development of innovative therapies, bringing hope to patients and families affected by these challenging conditions. Key Points: Funding Amount: $138 million Focus Areas: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative diseases Backed By: Forbion, a leading life sciences venture capital firm Impact: This funding will enable Vectory Therapeutics to accelerate the development of groundbreaking treatments and potentially transform the landscape of neurodegenerative disease research. Read more about this exciting development here: https://lnkd.in/gTuTZraD #Biotech #ALSResearch #NeurodegenerativeDiseases #Funding #HealthcareInnovation #VectoryTherapeutics #Forbion #MedicalResearch

PK MED, a biotechnology company based in Lyon, France, has secured €1.5 million in non-dilutive DeepTech financing from Bpifrance. The company plans to use this funding to accelerate its PKM-02 project, which focuses on developing an innovative cell-homing technology. This technology aims to improve bone marrow transplantation procedures for diseases with significant unmet medical needs, particularly leukemias and hemoglobinopathies. The non-dilutive nature of the financing allows PK MED to advance its research and development without diluting existing shareholders' equity, potentially accelerating progress in addressing challenging hematological disorders. https://lnkd.in/d6-G3hZ4

Our partners Degron Therapeutics, the company using its molecular glue-based targeted protein degradation drug-discovery platform to advance human health, today announced they have entered into a collaboration and exclusive license agreement with Takeda to discover and develop novel molecular glue degraders for multiple targets in oncology, neuroscience, and inflammation. Degron will receive upfront payment and potential milestone payments of up to $1.2 billion. Degron and Takeda will collaborate to utilize Degron's proprietary GlueXplorer® platform to identify, validate, and optimize molecular glue degraders for specific therapeutic targets selected by Takeda. Upon reaching a certain stage of advancement, the projects would be transitioned to Takeda for further development and commercialization. Here's a link to the press release: https://lnkd.in/erzzemNY #biotechnology #partnership #therapeutics

2024 continues to defy the odds for biotech funding for last month. Now that February has fully passed, the biotech sector saw significant investments with BioAge Labs, Latigo Biotherapeutics, and Neurona Therapeutics securing the largest deals, focusing on longevity, non-opioid pain relief, and regenerative cell therapies, respectively. Despite a decrease in the total number of funding rounds from January, with 25 in February versus January's 38, the sector still shows signs of some impressive activity, particularly in North America, which led in both the number of rounds and total funds raised. Check the full summary: https://lnkd.in/eecmG3-m #BiotechInvestments2024 #BioAgeLabs #LatigoBiotherapeutics #NeuronaTherapeutics #InnovationInHealth #NorthAmericaBiotech