LONDON – Targed Biopharmaceuticals BV has raised €39 million (US$44.2 million) in a series A financing that will enable it to take its targeted clot busting drug Microlyse into clinical development. The first-in-class product consists of urokinase, a serine protease involved in the conversion of inactive plasminogen to active plasmin, linked to a nanobody targeted at von Willebrand factor, the blood glycoprotein that plays a key role in hemostasis.

The FDA’s approval of Agios Therapeutics Inc.’s Pyrukynd (mitapivat) for treating hemolytic anemia marks a turnaround from nearly a year ago. That’s when Agios sold its commercial, clinical and research-stage oncology portfolio to privately held Servier Pharmaceuticals LLC to concentrate on rare diseases.