LONDON – Epidarex Capital announced the closure of its £102.1 million (US$126.3 million) third fund, which will invest in very early stage biomedical and med-tech spin-outs from high-class but “under-ventured” universities in regions of the country where venture money is in short supply.
Against a backdrop of general economic uncertainty bolstered in part by a strong biopharma market, two IPOs launched June 19 and ended their first trading day well above their high-end asking prices.
Repare Therapeutics Inc., which identifies synthetic lethal precision oncology targets for drug candidates, and Forma Therapeutics Holdings Inc., which is developing therapeutics to treat rare hematologic diseases and cancers, launched IPOs with an anticipated combined value of $497.6 million in gross proceeds.
Surrozen Inc., a startup developing regenerative medicines leveraging tissue-specific Wnt modulation, has raised $50 million in series C financing. Proceeds from the round will be used to advance the company’s top two antibodies to the clinic, one for the treatment of severe liver disease and a second for moderate to severe inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Nan Fung Life Sciences is “looking to make a significant presence in the field,” said Engrail Therapeutics Inc. CEO Vikram Sudarsan, whose firm bagged a $32 million series A round led by the global investment platform of Hong Kong’s Nan Fung Group, and its support represents “a clear statement in that direction.”
Orca Bio Inc.’s $192 million series D brings the company out of stealth and openly into the business of transforming allogeneic cell therapies. The new funding brings Orca’s total capital raised since 2016 to nearly $300 million.
DUBLIN – Lassen Therapeutics Inc. is following the Enleofen Bio Pte Ltd. playbook by targeting the interleukin-11 receptor (IL-11R) as a novel approach to combating both fibrosis and cancer. It’s a move that paid off handsomely earlier this year for Singapore-based Enleofen, which entered a broad alliance in fibrosis with Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, which could generate up to $1 billion in milestones for each product emanating from the partnership. San Diego-based Lassen is now laying claim to that space as well and has just emerged from stealth mode, having closed but not previously disclosed a $31 million series A round.
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