“Sometimes the market gets ahead of the science,” said Dennis Purcell, founder of Aisling Capital, pointing to the way backers of genomics firms “went nuts” in the early 2000s. “I think we’re in a position today where the science is ahead of where the market is.” The remarks by venture capital (VC) expert Purcell came during a virtual salon hosted Aug. 30 by Demy-Colton and titled “VC Trends in Healthcare Investing: Current Pulse Check.” Panelists acknowledged the currently unfavorable financing environment but sounded upbeat about the industry’s path forward.
Nevia Bio Ltd. (formerly Gina Life Ltd.) completed a $3.1 million seed round that will allow the company, which has developed a platform that can decode biomarkers data from vaginal secretions for the early detection of ovarian cancer, to conduct clinical trials. With ovarian cancer the leading cause of death in women diagnosed with gynecological cancers, Nevia is hoping that its platform will save many lives.
Opthea Ltd. plans to raise AU$80 million (US$51.2 million) via a AU$10 million private placement and a AU$70 million entitlement offer to continue its pivotal phase III trials in wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) for lead candidate OPT-302.
Babson Diagnostics Inc. has line of sight for the commercial launch of its Betterway blood testing ecosystem, which is a less invasive way of taking blood and requires only one-tenth of the sample volume of venipuncture without sacrificing quality or accuracy. The company said that once the collection device developed in partnership with Becton Dickinson & Co. (BD) is cleared by the U.S. FDA, Betterway will be launched in Texas, where it already has established partnerships with retailers and where its commercial lab is up and running. In addition, Babson has fully validated a broad set of miniaturized assays that are ready for commercial processing in its CLIA-certified, CAP accredited laboratory.
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