HONG KONG – Chinese biopharmaceutical company Abbisko Therapeutics Co. Ltd., of Shanghai, defied turbulent stock markets amid the COVID-19 pandemic to snag $70 million in its latest round of financing.

Leuven, Belgium-based Midiagnostics NV, which is looking to bring miniaturized, rapid, blood-based tests with built-in connectivity to both patients and clinicians, reported the completion of a €14 million (US$15.4 million) investment round. The company intends to use the funds to speed the development of its nanofluidic processor on a chip and prepare it for industrial-scale manufacturing.

More than a dozen robotics researchers expressed the need for robots to play a greater role in managing the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, as well as in future preparedness. They pointed to three broad medical areas where robots can make a difference: clinical care with applications such as telemedicine and decontamination; logistics for delivery and handling of medical waste; and reconnaissance such as quarantine enforcement.

Castle Creek Biosciences Inc. CEO John Maslowski told BioWorld the firm’s $75 million financing will propel phase III research with FCX-007 in recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), with top-line data due in the first quarter of 2021 – “a big inflection point” for the Exton, Pa.-based company, which plans a BLA filing for that year as well.