Only four years after its foundation, Acepodia Inc. raised $47 million in a series B financing round. The funds will help the oncology company move its first cell therapy candidate to phase II trials, while expanding its research and development activities with other products from its tech platform.
Variantyx Inc. raised $20 million in a series C financing led by GHS Fund (Quark Venture LP and GF Securities). The new funds are earmarked for the development of comprehensive tumor diagnostic solutions and sales expansion. Also taking part in the round were new investor IBM Ventures and existing investors Pitango Venture Capital, New Era Capital Partners and 20/20 Healthcare Partners. With this latest infusion, Variantyx has raised a total of $38 million.
LONDON – Following circulating tumor cells and cell-free tumor DNA, a new type of liquid biopsy is poised for commercial rollout after Datar Cancer Genetics Ltd. secured CE marking for Trublood, a method for isolating tumor cell clusters. In fact, the clusters do not consist solely of tumor cells, but can also include endothelial cells, erythrocytes, stromal cells, leukocytes, platelets, and cancer-associated fibroblasts. They are held together by cell-to cell-adhesion proteins.
Intec Pharma Ltd. is merging with privately held Decoy Biosystems Inc. and the combined company will continue advancing Decoy’s immunotherapy technology for treating a variety of tumors and chronic viral infections.
The question of whether Rubius Therapeutics Inc. would disclose data with its cellular therapy, RTX-240, ahead of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) meeting next month was answered in a market-satisfying way as the Cambridge, Mass.-based firm rolled out positive findings from the ongoing phase I/II experiment.