According to BioWorld, almost $85 billion was raised by public and private biopharma companies globally in the second and third quarters alone, bringing the dollars generated to date to more than $100 billion – a total that smashes the existing record of about $69 billion that was raised in 2015.

LONDON – French venture capital firm Kurma Partners has announced the first closing at €50 million (US$58.6 million) of its second fund to be wholly devoted to seed and early stage investment in diagnostics. Kurma Diagnostics 2 (KDx2) will be invested in molecular and digital diagnostics technologies being spun out of universities and research centers across Europe, backing a total of 15 companies.

DUBLIN – In what continues to be a year like no other, European biotechnology firms engaged in drug development raised $4.783 billion in equity financing during the third quarter. It is an unprecedented level of funding for the sector.

Alucent Biomedical Inc., which is developing a restorative therapy for peripheral artery disease (PAD), completed a $35 million series B financing led by a multinational strategic investor. The funds will be used to complete clinical studies of the Alucent Natural Vascular Scaffolding (AlucentNVS) vessel restoration system with photoactivated linking, the company’s first product.

PARIS – Gleamer SAS has secured $8.75 million in series A financing for its CE-marked artificial intelligence (AI) application that automatically detects all types of fracture in radiography. “This funding will allow us to move forward with launching Boneview around the world,” Christian Allouche, CEO and co-founder of Gleamer, told BioWorld.