TAIPEI, Taiwan – Budding Taiwanese startup Elixiron Immunotherapeutics Inc. closed a $10.5 million series A1 financing to further expand its technology platform and drive its drug candidates toward clinical development.

David Southwell, a seasoned pharma exec and CEO of newly funded Tscan Therapeutics Inc., called from a small, unadorned conference room on the Harvard campus to talk about his new company. He's used to being on the clinical development side, where the accommodations are a bit more posh, but nonetheless he's pleased to be investigating T-cell therapy for cancer patients.