In vitro diagnostic (IVD) company Virtue Diagnostics (Suzhou) Co. Ltd. has raised $100 million in a series B round to develop its clinical diagnostics and bring them to other markets. “With the latest funding, Virtue Diagnostics will hire talent, introduce technology, and expand to other markets,” said Johnson Zhang, CEO of Virtue Diagnostics.

Three biopharma IPOs rounded out the first week of the new year, with Amylyx Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cincor Pharma Inc. and Vigil Neuroscience Inc. all pricing new Nasdaq issues Dec. 7. Taken together, the offerings raised about $482 million, though all received cool receptions, with only the most mature among them, Amylyx, (NASDAQ:AMLX) holding its ground at midday.

While the $118.3 billion raised by biopharma companies in 2021 through public and private transactions is 12% lower than the amount raised the prior year, it still represents an impressive financings record, led primarily by IPOs and venture capital rounds.

Canadian company Future Fertility Inc. is hatching plans to expand the user base for its flagship egg prediction software product, Violet, for egg cryopreservation. The noninvasive image analysis tool uses artificial intelligence (AI) to evaluate the reproductive potential of mature eggs. Investors are backing the Toronto-based company with $6 million in series A funds, so it can expand internationally and develop additional assessment products.

LONDON – Natural killer (NK) cell therapy specialist Onk Therapeutics Ltd. has raised $21.5 million in a series A, enabling it to move three lead programs into proof-of-concept animal testing and to progress manufacturing and scale-up of its cord blood-derived cells.