Ascidian Therapeutics Inc. secured $50 million in series A funding from its founder Apple Tree Partners to take a therapy based on its RNA exon editing technology into a first-in-human trial in ABCA4 retinopathy and to advance additional programs in neuromuscular, neurological, and rare disease indications.
Sibylla Biotech Srl raised €23 million (US$22.9 million) in series A funding to progress its two lead programs in targeted protein degradation, to broaden its pipeline, and to enhance its computationally intensive discovery platform. The company is expanding the druggable proteome in a highly original fashion. It applies mathematical techniques originally developed in theoretical physics to simulating the intermediate folding states of target proteins that have no obvious drug-binding pockets. These may well have transient structures that a small molecule can bind. So instead of drugging the native, biologically active molecule, it aims to develop small-molecule drugs that lock them into an intermediate state. They are then eliminated by the usual protein degradation pathways that operate within cells.
Cionic Inc. doubled its funding to date with a $12.5 million series A round led by Bluerun Ventures. The cash infusion will support the manufacturing and delivery of the company’s Neural Sleeve, development of additional products on its human augmentation platform and expansion of the team. The Neural Sleeve received FDA clearance in February and is designed to help individuals with impairments caused by multiple sclerosis, stroke, cerebral palsy and other diseases retain or regain mobility.
Otolith Sound Inc. closed a $20 million series A financing round led by Morningside Ventures for its treatment for chronic vertigo. The latest funding follows a $3.3 million seed financing round and breakthrough device designation in June 2021. The funding will be used to support ongoing clinical programs and its anticipated FDA approval of its noninvasive wearable device Vestibular System Masking (nVSM) technology.
Pheon Therapeutics Ltd. is working to bring next-generation antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) payloads and enhanced tolerability into the clinic after closing a $68 million series A.
Kupando GmbH has closed a series A funding round raising €13 million. The funds will be used to complete IND-enabling work and to initiate the clinical development of Kupando's lead candidate KUP-101 in a solid tumor indication.
Life science startup Surge Inc. raised $2.6 million in a financing led by Hcvd and Boutique Venture Partners. The funds will be used to advance its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered technology aimed at making a patient’s surgical journey safer.
Following on a trifecta of regulatory wins, Optellum Ltd. raised $14 million in a series A funding round to commercialize its artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled lung cancer diagnostic platform. Optellum’s Virtual Nodule Clinic, which helps physicians identify and monitor patients at-risk of lung cancer, has received U.S. FDA clearance, CE-MDR in the European Union and UKCA in the U.K.
Jilin Huisheng Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd., a non-wholly owned subsidiary of Sihuan Pharmaceutical Holdings Group Ltd., has raised ¥500 million (US$70 million) in a series A round. Huisheng, which has developed a pipeline of programs addressing both diabetes and its complications, plans to use the new funds to speed up its clinical trials and purchase manufacturing equipment, according to Che Fengsheng, executive director and chairman of Sihuan Pharma.
Koutech Medical Robotics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. reported it has raised “hundreds of millions of yuan” in a series A round to support the development of its surgical robot. The round is led by Qiming Venture Partners.