Asher Biotherapeutics Inc. raised $55 million in a series A financing round to take forward a series of engineered cytokines designed to selectively activate T cells or other immune effector cells, in order to eliminate both the toxicities and the loss of efficacy that can result from indiscriminate activation.
Aktis Oncology Inc. raised $72 million in a series A round and set out its stall as another contender with big ambitions in the rapidly developing field of targeted radiopharmaceuticals for solid tumor indications.
LONDON – Exevir Bio NV added a further €15 million (US$17.9 million) to close its series A round at €42 million, providing the means to take its nanobody therapy for treating COVID-19 infection through to registration.
Little more than two months after cutting a deal with Merck & Co. Inc. that could top $1 billion, Janux Therapeutics Inc. has closed on a $56 million series A. Janux is developing immunotherapies designed to trigger the immune system to kill specific tumors while leaving the healthy tissue safely alone. T-cell engagers bind to a tumor cell and use the patient’s T cells to eliminate the tumor.
PARIS – Less than a year after its formation, Acusurgical SAS, has secured a $7 million series A round to develop its robotic platform for assisting surgeons performing microsurgery procedures in retinal surgery. “Our goal isn’t to replace the surgeon but to increase his surgical capacities. Our mission is to create an augmented surgeon,” Christoph Spuhler, CEO and co-founder of Montpellier, France-based Acusurgical, told BioWorld.
Jaguar Gene Therapy LLC, a startup reuniting former Avexis Inc. executives to develop a portfolio of potential treatments for severe genetic diseases, announced its public debut Feb. 25 with more than $40 million in series A financing from co-creator Deerfield Management.
RNA has “huge potential” as a therapeutic modality and is beginning to deliver on that potential. But “manufacturing RNA has issues in production, delivery and performance,” Thomas Barnes told BioWorld. Barnes is the CEO of startup Orna Therapeutics LLC, which has the goal of addressing those issues with oRNA, an engineered form of circular RNA.
Blue Ocean Spine GmbH has won a major investment from SHS GmbH, also from Tuttlingen in Germany, to develop its next-generation functional spinal implant. The two companies are declining to disclose the size of the series A investment.
Ensoma Inc., a gene therapy startup working to drastically simplify the production and delivery of genomic medicines, announced itself Feb. 11 with a $70 million series A financing plus a strategic collaboration with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., which licensed vectors from the company for up to five rare disease targets in a deal that could deliver as much as $1.25 billion in potential payouts. Ensoma's co-founder and seed investor, 5AM Ventures, led the financing. Takeda took a $10 million equity stake as part of the round.
Theator Ltd., the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered surgical intelligence platform, has raised $15.5 million in a series A financing led by Insight Partners. The funds will be used to scale commercial operations and partnerships with U.S. providers, grow the company’s R&D team and secure its footprint in the field of AI-driven surgical planning, intraoperative support, and review. New investor Blumberg Capital also participated in the round, along with all existing investors including Nfx, Stageone Ventures, Kdt Ventures and Iangels.
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