Newco Commit Biologics ApS has arrived on the scene after raising €16 million (US$17.2 million) in a seed round to advance bispecific antibodies that are designed to activate the complement system and direct it to selectively kill cancer cells.

Three years ago when Keting Chu pondered the name for a new biopharma company that would fold in infectious disease assets from Novartis AG, she looked out over her West Coast backyard. “I was looking for a name that made you think of California,” she told BioWorld. She nixed the idea of incorporating redwood trees into the name, but then she saw the blue jays flying around those trees and thought, “that’s a beautiful bird.” Hence, Chu founded and became CEO of Bluejay Therapeutics Inc., first raising $20 million through a series A in June 2021 and a $41 million series B in August 2022. On May 9, the San Mateo, Calif.-based company closed a $182 million series C round, with plans to accelerate development of lead compound BJT-778 to treat chronic hepatitis D virus, a condition for which there are no approved therapeutics in the U.S.

The Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) Fund has announced a total investment of approximately ¥1.64 billion (US$10.8 million) in four projects for the development of new drugs for malaria and neglected tropical diseases.