Avectas Ltd., of Dublin, brought in a $20 million series C financing, ratcheting the total equity investment in the company to $40 million. Privately held Avectas, formed in 2012 as a spin-out from Ireland’s Maynooth University, said it plans to accelerate the clinical translation and commercial scale-up of its cell engineering technology and expand its staffing in Ireland.
During a recent investor event related to early drug development, Basel, Switzerland-based Roche Holding AG touted research by the firm’s Genentech unit into the cancer target known as TIGIT, or T-cell immunoreceptor with Ig and ITIM domains, and the pharma giant is hardly alone in the sizzling space.
SEATTLE – As it enters its third year, the Human Cell Atlas project has mapped 100 million of 100 billion cells, and by comparing gene expression profiles of normal and aberrant cells and building networks of cellular interactions, is leading to breakthroughs in understanding of disease at a molecular level.
SEATTLE – As it enters its third year, the Human Cell Atlas project has mapped 100 million of 100 billion cells, and by comparing gene expression profiles of normal and aberrant cells and building networks of cellular interactions, is leading to breakthroughs in understanding of disease at a molecular level.
Not only did newly emergent Kyverna Therapeutics Inc. burst out of the gate with a $25 million series A, but it enhanced its entrance with a deal from Gilead Sciences Inc., one of the company’s initial funders, potentially worth $587.5 million.
BEIJING – Chinese T-cell immunotherapy specialist Immunotech Biopharm Ltd., of Beijing, has become the seventh pre-revenue biotech on the waiting list to go public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX). In an application filed this week, the specific amount was not disclosed, but company said much of the proceeds are expected to advance its lead candidate targeting liver cancer.
LONDON – Achilles Therapeutics Ltd. closed a £100 million (US$120 million) series B round to fund two proof-of-concept studies of its next-generation T-cell immunotherapy in solid tumors, and to build a commercial-scale, fully automated facility for manufacturing the personalized product.
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.
