Investors appear to be maintaining a bullish outlook on biopharma companies developing innovative medicines, with the BioWorld Drug Developers index currently tracking up over 5% in value so far this month heading into third-quarter earnings season.

LONDON – Sparingvision SAS has raised €44.5 million (US$52.5 million) to advance SPVNo6, a gene therapy designed to be effective for all retinitis pigmentosa patients regardless of the underlying mutation, with a phase I dose-ranging study now due to start in 2021.

COVID-19 continues to dominate biopharma nonprofit collaborations and grants in 2020, with the pandemic accounting for 85% of projected values reported this year, most of which have posted since the start of July.

Butterfly Medical Ltd. could be on the verge of metamorphosis into a major player in the benign prostatic hyperplasia treatment field. The Yokneam, Israel-based company just raised $7 million in a series B financing led by New Rhein Healthcare Investors LLC, of Philadelphia.

Dren Bio Inc. has closed on a $60 million series A to push its two lead programs through early clinical development. The company’s DR-01 is an antibody-based therapy for treating rare leukemias, lymphomas and specific phenotypes of autoimmune disorders. The company said it is initially targeting neglected hematology-oncology indications.

Even though the appetite for biopharma IPOs this year has been voracious with no signs of a slowdown anytime soon, companies also have a potentially faster route to the public market using special purpose acquisition companies (SPAC) that raise money through an IPO in order to take a company public through an acquisition.