Recordati SpA is shelling out $825 million up front for global rights to Enjaymo (sutimlimab), the only therapy approved for treating the rare disease cold agglutinin disease, in a deal with Sanofi SA. The agreement, which also includes milestone payments of up to $250 million, adds to Recordati’s rare disease portfolio and marks the latest move by Sanofi following restructuring and reprioritization efforts launched earlier this year. 

Kurma closes €140M fund aimed at breakthrough research in Europe

Kurma Partners has announced the first closing of its Biofund IV at €140 million (US$154.5 million) and is pressing ahead to a final close of €250 million this time next year. The fund will make 16 to 20 investments, with half the money due to be invested in novel science that Kurma teases out of academic labs and the remainder in established VC-funded companies. The Paris-based firm is agnostic about which fields or disease areas it invests in and will prospect for breakthrough research anywhere in Europe. It has been “a pretty smooth process” so far to reach the first closing, said Rémi Droller, managing partner. “The investment thesis is very differentiated [because] we are doing company creation … and this is the fourth [fund], so we have a pretty long track record,” he told BioWorld.

Caliway’s $206M IPO marks largest in Taiwan’s biotech history  

Taiwan’s Caliway Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. raised NT$6.4 billion (US$206 million) in its IPO on the Taipei Stock Exchange, making it the largest IPO in Taiwan’s biotech industry history and valuing the company at nearly $3 billion following the listing. The IPO included a competitive auction mechanism held on Sept. 18 under which Caliway offered 10.08 million shares through auction and an additional 3.32 million shares for public subscription. Caliway shares (TWSE:6919) closed at NT$571 (US$17.65) on Oct. 1. Funds raised will enable Caliway to advance CBL-514 into international multicenter phase III pivotal trials for subcutaneous fat reduction.

Biopharma financings surge to $86.2B in 2024, with $8.7B in September

Biopharma financing continued to outperform over the first nine months of 2024, hitting $86.2 billion, a 75% increase from the $49.35 billion raised during the same period in 2023. September alone saw a significant boost from the prior month, with financings more than doubling to $8.7 billion from $3.5 billion in August.

Flagship, A*STAR to pool $77M for Singapore biotech creation, R&D

Flagship Pioneering and Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) are jointly committing up to SGD100 million (US$77.12 million) over the next five years to drive inter-party R&D collaboration and biotech creation in Singapore. The news comes within a year of Flagship opening its first Asia-Pacific (APAC) hub in Singapore in November 2023, and after it announced plans for a second office in Seoul, South Korea, this year, as previously reported by BioWorld. Flagship, most known for building Moderna Inc. during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, calls itself an inventor and builder of bioplatform companies.

BioWorld Insider podcast: Capricor’s CEO pursues a BLA and talks rare disease

Capricor Therapeutics Inc. just wrapped up a visit with the U.S. FDA and is prepping to file a BLA in October for its Duchenne muscular dystrophy treatment. Linda Marbán, Capricor’s CEO, is the guest on the newest BioWorld Insider podcast and she talks about deramiocel (CAP-1002), the company’s allogeneic cardiac-derived cell therapy, for treating the rare disease and how the FDA has made strong efforts in helping lay the groundwork for deramiocel. Marbán has been working on the Duchenne treatment for many years and she has strong insights into how to tackle a rare disease development program and how the FDA has changed its ways over time to help out. She has been in the biopharma space for more than 20 years and also is a co-founder of Capricor.

Also in the news

Abivax, Akoya, Aldeyra, Astrazeneca, Avidity, Biohaven, Eli Lilly, Ennodc, Eton, Expert Systems, Gigagen, Integrated Biosciences, Ipsen, Irlab, Kineta, Liquidia, Mabxience, Nuclera, Pharmosa, Stemcyte, Teva, Theriva, Trawsfynydd, Tuhura