IPOs are back! The last 7 days in biotech have marked some of the busiest we have seen in terms of early biotech financing as well as activity on the public markets, with multiple NewCos launched as well as 3 companies announcing plans to IPO in the US and one in Hong Kong. There was more obesity clinical data shared from some of the top players, as well as lots of action in the ADC space.
Looking at the wider space, Pitchbook released its Q2 Biopharma Report which paints a semi-optimistic picture about the direction of the industry. Venture capital funding into biopharma rose to $9.2B across 215 deals, the highest amount since Q2 2022. However M&A was down from $10B in Q1 to $4.5B in Q2, and IPOs also did not pick up steam in the 2nd quarter. There is hope that lower interest rates could improve the financing environment, however obstacles such as slow M&A activity and unfavorable public valuations are expected to dampen the recovery.
🚀 New Biotech Launches & Private raises…
Illumina Ventures is seeking to raise $300m for its third fund, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission last week. Link
Seattle based Talus Bio, led by founding scientists
Alex Federation
and
Lindsay Pino
, raised a $11M seed+ round to advance its pipeline of cancer programs and build out its proprietary Multiplexed Assays for the Rational Modulation Of Transcription Factors (MARMOT) platform. Link
Colorado based Ambrosia Biosciences Inc., led by
Nick Traggis
, announced a $16M series A financing to bring together the ex-Array Bio/Pfizer chemistry team to apply their expert knowledge to developing small molecule obesity therapeutics. Link
Novartis have creatively launched a new biotech with $150M, Borealis Biosciences, Inc., in collaboration with Versant Ventures from what was left of the previously acquired Chinook Therapeutics organization. The Vancouver, Canada based biotech focused on developing next-generation xRNA-based medicines for kidney diseases, with key leaders including
David Powell
, Adam Judge and
Alex Bell
. Link
NC based Pathalys Pharma, led by
Neal Fowler
, secured a $105M oversubscribed series B to complete two phase 3 trials in end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) with best in class potential. Link
Swiss biotech Vandria SA raised an additional $10M to top up its series A, bringing the total haul to $30M. The biotech, led by
Klaus Dugi
, plans to bring its first-in-class mitochondrial therapeutics compound into clinic for age related diseases. Link
BridgeBio span out another portion of its pipeline, this time launching Gondola Bio with $300M and a range of preclinical and early clinical genetic disease programs. The new company is led by BridgeBio CBO
James Li
. Link
Human Longevity, Inc. announced an oversubscribed $40M Series B round to invest in its artificial intelligence health risk and recommendation platform, new longevity focused technologies and services, and new expansion sites globally. Link
Colorado based PhotonPharma, led by CEO
Alan Rudolph
, raised $2.5M seed financing to initiate a phase 1 clinical trial for its lead cancer program. Link
Virginia based Retension Pharmaceuticals, led by
Eric Keller
, raised $10.4M in an oversubscribed series A to initiate a phase 2 study for its hypertension small molecule drug. Link
🤝 Deals deals deals…
UCB announced a strategic divestment deal to offload its China late stage portfolio of neurology and allergy drugs to as well as a China manufacturing site to CBC Group and Mubadala for $680M. Link
NY based infectious disease drug developer SIGA Technologies secured a new $9M contract with the DoD for additional TPOXX supplies. Link
Denmark based ADC specialist Adcendo are licensing a highly differentiated ADC from China based Multitude Therapeutics, including exclusive development and commercialization rights for the asset globally, excluding the Greater China region. Link
Walgreens Boots Alliance secured a $100M BARDA contract to expand its de-centralized clinical trial capabilities. Link
BioIVT, a global biospecimen CRO for drug and diagnostic development, has acquired ZenBio, A BioIVT Company, a leader in advanced cell products and services to offer an expanded portfolio of skin-based expertise, primary cell and exosome isolation and blood products. Link
💸Other investments and expansions…
Novo Nordisk's Bio Innovation hub, led by
Uli Stilz
, announced plans to expand from Boston to San Francisco, working with MBC BioLabs, a network of four biotech incubators, to partner with early start ups and entrepreneurs. Link
Columbia University received a $400M gift from Roy and Diana Vagelos that it will use to expand its biomedical research and teaching facilities, including the building of a new Vagelos Innovation Laboratories research facility at the New York Washington Heights medical campus. The gift will support programs in cell engineering and gene therapy, expand collaborations and attract more life science researchers to New York. Link
💰 IPO News & Public raises
Boston based Bicara Therapeutics announced plans to raise $200M in an IPO to fund a pivotal phase 2/3 trial of a bi-functional antibody targeting EGFR and TGF-β to treat head and neck cancer. Link
Boston based Zenas BioPharma filed for an IPO seeking $100M to advance obexelimab in multiple indications, including an ongoing phase 3 trial treating IgG4-RD and phase 2 trials in MS, Lupus and warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia. Link
Just 2 months after going public, Avidity Biosciences, Inc. have raised another $345M (!!) in an upsized public offering. Very exciting to see their antibody oligo conjugate platform making advances! Link
Indiana based phase 2 stage peptide biotech MBX Biosciences, Inc. announced plans to raise an undisclosed amount in an IPO. Link
Boston based Kymera Therapeutics announced plans to raise $225M in a public offering to advance its preclinical and clinical pipeline of targeted protein degraders. Link
China based TYK Medicines raised $74M in a Hong Kong IPO, with its lead EGFR inhibitor in pivotal trials. Link
⚕️ Positive clinical development updates…
Eli Lilly and Company published more data on its GLP-1 drug tirzepatide, including reduced risk of type 2 diabetes by 94%. Link
ReCode Therapeutics received approval to initiate a phase 1b study for its inhaled mRNA therapeutic treatment of Cystic Fibrosis. Link
Abata Therapeutics received FDA fast track designation for its Treg therapy ABA-101 for the treatment of progressive multiple sclerosis. Link
GSK received breakthrough therapy designation for its B7-H3-targeted antibody-drug conjugate in relapsed or refractory extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer. Link
✅ Regulatory Approvals…
Biogen, Eisai US's Leqembi won UK approval for early Alzheimer's disease. Link
Johnson & Johnson's RYBREVANT® (amivantamab-vmjw) plus LAZCLUZE™ (lazertinib) was approved in the U.S. as a first-line chemotherapy-free treatment for patients with EGFR-mutated advanced lung cancer. Link. In a double win, the European Commission also approved BALVERSA® (erdafitinib) for adult patients with unresectable or metastatic urothelial carcinoma. Link
The FDA approved newer versions of Pfizer/BioNTech SE's Comirnaty and Moderna's Spikevax COVID-19 vaccines for the 2024-25 season. Link
Toledano et al. developed a new computational model that matches drugs to protein synthesis disruptors in hereditary diseases and cancer.
The model, called RTDetective, seeks to address the fact that 10-20% of inherited diseases are caused by premature termination codons (PTCs), which also act as a major mechanism of tumor suppressor gene inactivation in cancer. Despite small molecule nonsense suppressor drugs proving effective in disease models, translation into the clinic is hampered by ineffective readthroughs of many PTCs resulting in ineffective patient/drug combos.
The team quantified readthroughs for 5,800 human PTCs by 8 drugs, resulting in over 140,000 individual measurements that the model was trained on, before using the algorithm to predict how drugs were likely to perform against the 32.7M possible stop codons in human RNA transcripts.
Readthrough drugs stimulate full-length protein synthesis and decrease NMD-mediated transcript degradation.
The researchers will next aim to confirm that the proteins produced after nonsense suppressor administration are functional, validating the models clinical applicability.
It is not crazy to imagine a world where when a patient is diagnosed with a genetic disease, the exact mutation is identified through genetic testing and then a computer model suggests which drug is the best to use, and this paper is another step towards future personalized medicine approaches. Exciting to see the team continue to build this model!
That's all for this week, thanks for tuning in. Subscribe for alerts to the latest positive news in the biotech industry delivered to your inbox every Monday ⬇️🔔
About the author: Max Robinson is an ex-scientist turned talent leader in the biotechnology industry, and currently Global Head of Discovery & Preclinical Research at Proclinical.
