Expedition Medicines, which Flagship Pioneering Inc. has incubated for the past three years, came out of stealth mode with a $50 million commitment from Flagship to support Expedition’s platform technology to discover small molecules that covalently bind to their target.
Newco Elevara Medicines Ltd. has raised $70 million in a series A to fund a phase IIa/IIb trial of ELV-001, a first-in-class, oral cyclin dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitor, in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who do not have an adequate response to methotrexate and anti-TNF biologic therapies.
Smartbax GmbH has announced the successful first closing of its €4.7 million (US$5.4 million) pre-series A financing round to support development of its next-generation antibiotics against multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria. A second closing of the round remains open to investors.
In the largest med-tech M&A deal in nearly three years, Hologic Inc. agreed to be acquired by funds led by Blackstone and TPG in a transaction valued at $18.3 billion. After five months of rumored negotiations, the outlined deal provides Hologic shareholders with $76 per share in cash plus up to $3 per share in contingent value rights (CVR) to be paid on achievement of revenue goals for the breast health business over the next two years.
Edap TMS SA signed a €36 million (US$42 million) multi-tranche credit facility with the European Investment Bank, with the first tranche of €11 million expected to be disbursed in early November. The funds will be used to strengthen the company’s balance sheet to support the continued expansion of its Focal One high-intensity focused ultrasound technology in focal therapy and accelerate the development of new clinical indications.
Radiopharm Theranostics Ltd. completed a AU$35 million (US$22.77 million) placement to advance six of its radiopharmaceutical candidates for both diagnostic and therapeutic uses. The funds raised will go toward clinical trials, drug manufacturing and working capital to extend Radiopharm’s funding runway into 2027.
Step Pharma is financed to move its pipeline-in-a-product strategy forward on a broad front, after raising a €38 million (US$44.2 million) series C. That will see three ongoing trials testing the company’s potentially first-in-class, orally available cytidine triphosphate synthase 1 inhibitor, dencatistat, through to phase II in T-cell and B-cell lymphoma, in an ovarian, endometrial and lung cancer study, and in essential thrombocythemia.