Proving that reproduction remains a fecund market for investment, Israeli startup Fairtility Ltd. closed a $15 million series A funding round. Led by Boston-based Gurnet Point Capital with support from Nacre Capital and others, the round boosted Fairtility’s funding to date up to $18.5 million.
After listing on the Nasdaq market on May 18, Hong Kong-based diagnostics and genetic testing company Prenetics Group Ltd. saw its shares fall nearly 30% in early trading, dropping from $8.40 per share on listing to $5.70 by the end of trading May 19. Trading under the ticker PRE, Prenetics formed a merger with Artisan Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, which was founded by entrepreneur Adrian Cheng. The transaction values Prenetics at an enterprise value of $1.25 billion, making the company the first Hong Kong unicorn to list on the Nasdaq.
Swanbio Therapeutics Inc. closed a $56 million series B round to take its lead gene therapy program, SBT-101, into clinical development later this year. The candidate, comprised of an adeno-associated virus type 9 vector encoding the ABCD1 peroxisomal ATP-binding cassette transporter, is in development for adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN), an inherited disease that affects the central nervous system.