Two biopharma companies launched within the past year raised top amounts in series B financings for 2025, seeking to advance their therapeutic candidates for cardiovascular diseases and obesity.
CF Pharmtech Inc. raised HK$607.67 million (US$78.12 million) through the sale of 41.19 million H shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) Oct. 8. The proceeds will be used to advance the Suzhou, China-based drug developer’s portfolio of inhalation candidates for respiratory diseases.
Tvardi Therapeutics Inc. stock lost 83.9% of its value as investors took in poor preliminary results of the phase II study of its lead candidate for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The company’s shares (NASDAQ:TVRD) closed at $6.69 each on Oct. 13.
While immunotherapy targeting PD-1 or its ligand PD-L1 has transformed cancer treatment by overcoming T-cell exhaustion, only a minority of patients achieves durable responses after treatment.
Basal-like breast cancer is a particularly aggressive subtype of the malignancy, for which it has been difficult to identify good therapeutic targets. In collaboration, European researchers mined public transcriptome datasets to show that the aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A isoform ALDH1A3 was predominantly expressed in epithelial cells within basal-like tumors, whereas the isoforms ALDH1A1 and ALDH1A2 were predominantly expressed in stromal and immune-associated cells.
An uncommon route to the public markets – direct listing – paid off for Turn Therapeutics Inc., with shares (NASDAQ:TTRX) closing Oct. 9 at $9.20, up $2.20, or 31%, having risen as high as $26.50 in its second day of trading. The firm is advancing late-stage clinical programs in eczema and onychomycosis. Also in the works are global health initiatives in thermostable vaccine delivery designed to serve underserved areas.
More than a decade after the last idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) treatment gained U.S. FDA approval, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH’s Jascayd (nerandomilast) is set to hit the market following the agency’s green light on Oct. 7. While expected to offer a modest benefit over existing therapies, Jascayd, an orally administered preferential inhibitor of phosphodiesterase 4B with breakthrough therapy status, is viewed by analysts as the first of several potential advancements in the IPF space over the next few years.
In a deal that could top $2 billion, China-based Innocare Pharma Ltd. licensed the exclusive worldwide development and commercialization rights to the BTK inhibitor orelabrutinib to Zenas Biopharma Inc. for multiple sclerosis and other indications aside from oncology.
Taho Pharmaceuticals Ltd. announced an NDA submission to the U.S. FDA for TAH-3311, developed as the world’s first oral dissolving film formulation of apixaban, marking a regulatory milestone for the Taipei-based biotech.
Full-Life Technologies Ltd. announced Sept. 29 the completion of a $77 million financing, comprising $50 million in series C equity and $27 million in debt financing, which will be used to advance a portfolio of radiopharmaceuticals and radionuclide-drug conjugates worldwide.
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