Dublin – IO Biotech ApS raised €127 million (US$154.7 million) in a series B round to fund a potentially pivotal trial of its combination of cancer vaccines in first-line metastatic melanoma. The Copenhagen, Denmark-based company is one of a number of firms fueling a mini-resurgence in immuno-oncology in the early weeks of the new year, as new data and new insights are prompting additional investments in an area that some had thought was already oversubscribed.

Tessera Therapeutics Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based company working to "write therapeutic instructions into the genome," has raised $230 million in series B financing to back its development of potential cures and treatments for cardiovascular, oncological, neurodegenerative and infectious diseases.

The attention the COVID-19 pandemic drew to the biopharma industry, the ease and convenience of virtual meetings, as well as massive amounts of available capital, all led to an extraordinary year for financings in 2020. The momentum appears to be continuing, particularly with venture capital rounds.

A decade from now, 2020 likely will be considered a year like no other in terms of the massive amounts of capital raised amid a raging pandemic. Financing transactions of all types smashed records and in terms of volume hit 1,580, a total that was 42% higher than last year despite the serious disruptions to normal business operations.

When uncertainty strikes, survival instincts flourish. That is exactly how the biopharma industry weathered 2020 and the global spread of the devastating SARS-CoV-2 virus. “The theme for 2020 was, ‘If the capital is there, take it. It’s an uncertain future’,” said Gabriel Cavazos, managing director in investment banking at SVB Leerink.