Financings
Achaogen Inc. priced an underwritten public offering for anticipated gross proceeds of $15 million.
Biomx Ltd. has closed a $32 million series B equity financing.
Burning Rock Biotech has closed a series C financing round, raising ¥850 million (US$125.5 million).
Calypso Biotech BV closed a €20 million (US$22.7 million) series A round.
Geneos Therapeutics Inc. closed its series A round raising $10.5 million.
Hoth Therapeutics Inc. closed its IPO of 1.25 million shares at $5.60 each, resulting in gross proceeds of $7 million.
Kaleido Biosciences Inc. has filed to conduct its IPO to raise up to $100 million from the sale of 4.8 million shares at a price range of $20 to $22.
MPM Capital, a life-sciences venture capital firm investing in early stage therapeutics companies, said it closed its seventh venture fund, Bioventures 2018.
Shanghai Haihe Biopharma Co. Ltd. has completed a series B financing, raising $144.6 million.
Sienna Biopharmaceuticals Inc. priced an underwritten public offering for gross proceeds of $20 million.
Deals
Alkermes plc and Clovis Oncology Inc. entered a research collaboration to evaluate ALKS-4230, the former's engineered interleukin-2 (variant immunotherapy), in combination with Rubraca (rucaparib), Clovis' marketed PARP inhibitor, and lucitanib, Clovis' investigational tyrosine kinase inhibitor. The collaboration will explore the potential anticancer effects of both treatment combinations in preclinical models across multiple tumor types.
Decipher Biosciences Inc. entered a research collaboration with Dendreon Pharmaceuticals LLC to apply genomic tumor profiling using the Decipher assay and GRID software to identify prostate cancer patients on active surveillance who may benefit most from treatment with Provenge (sipuleucel-T).
Evotec AG and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research are collaborating on research initially focused on the optimization of cystobactamids, a family of natural antibacterial products with innovative chemical scaffolds that are active against gram-negative pathogens on the WHO priority list.
Exicure Inc. licensed the worldwide rights to its spherical nucleic acid technology for the treatment of Netherton syndrome and up to five additional rare skin indications to Dermelix Biotherapeutics LLC.
Hitachi Chemical Co. Ltd. plans to acquire the entire share float of Apceth Biopharma GmbH, a contract manufacturing organization, spending about €75.5 million, or ¥9.4 billion (US$85.2 million), on the German company's stock.
Merck & Co. Inc. is acquiring Immune Design Corp. for $5.85 cash per share, or about $300 million.
Mustang Bio Inc. and Nationwide Children's Hospital said they entered an exclusive worldwide license agreement to develop an oncolytic virus (C-134) for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme.
Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. inked a preclinical collaboration with NASA's Ames Research Center to evaluate the potential of its PLX cell therapies to prevent and treat medical conditions caused during space missions, including indications relating to blood, bone, muscle, brain and heart.
The University of Dundee's Drug Discovery Unit inked a partnership with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. to pursue therapies targeting tau pathology in neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease.
. . . And More
Allogene Therapeutics Inc. entered a lease agreement to develop a 118,000-square-foot cell therapy manufacturing facility in Newark, Calif. The facility is being designed to provide GMP manufacturing for clinical supply and commercial product upon potential regulatory approval.
Inventiva SA said a phase IIb trial evaluating the company's lead candidate, lanifibranor, for the treatment of diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis failed to meet its primary endpoint.