Vigencell Inc., a company focused on immune cell therapy, raised ₩99.4 (US$85.17 million) through an IPO on South Korea’s Kosdaq board and plans to use the funds to drive its R&D and company operations. “We particularly want to increase the competitiveness of our pipeline by advancing our technology and clinical development,” Vigencell CEO Tai-Gyu Kim told BioWorld. “We will also expand our discovery of new candidates and R&D in general, as well as updating our facilities and hiring researchers.”
Genome Medical Holding Co. put its competitors on notice with two big moves designed to position the company as a leader in genetic testing and virtual genomic care. The company acquired Genematters LLC, a provider of telegenetics counseling, and closed a $60 million series C fundraising round. Together, the moves stand to significantly expand Genome Medical’s digital infrastructure and clinical expertise in genetics services.
China’s ongoing efforts to tighten regulations across the board is hitting medical device companies. Two companies that issued shares in Hong Kong for the first time over the past week saw their shares tumble right out of the gate. Acotec Scientific Holdings Ltd. (HK: 6669) shares fell more than 25% on their first trading day on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Aug. 24 amid regulatory changes in China’s health care industry.
Laronde Inc., a company developing a new class of closed-loop RNA constructs for future medicines, has raised $440 million in series B financing. Unfurling at a pivotal moment for RNA-based therapies and vaccines, the company's approach is a bet on early evidence that its "endless" RNA loops can produce stable, enduring and tunable protein expression to fight disease.
Xalud Therapeutics Inc. raised an oversubscribed $30 million series C financing to continue advancing its lead candidate, XT-150, for regulating interleukin-10 in order to treat pathologic inflammation. The injectable, plasmid DNA gene therapy expresses IL-10v, a modified version of the cytokine IL-10, and is in a phase IIb study for treating moderate to severe pain caused by osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee.
Pharmacyte Biotech Inc. has raised $90 million to move its live cell encapsulation technology for cancer and diabetes further into the clinic. CEO Kenneth Waggoner told BioWorld that the first task is to work through studies and gather other information required by the FDA to get a clinical hold, imposed last November, lifted on trials in pancreatic cancer.
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