HONG KONG – South Korean biotech venture Spark Biopharma Inc., based in Seoul, has secured KRW25 billion (US$21 million) in series B funding to support new R&D efforts. The company plans to accelerate its development of small-molecule compound-based immuno-oncology therapeutics and treatments for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

DUBLIN – Versantis AG raised CHF16 million (US$16.1 million) in a series B round to progress clinical trials of a liposomal-based fluid in development for eliminating ammonia and other toxic metabolites from the circulation of patients in acute stages of liver failure who are undergoing peritoneal dialysis.

Bayer AG led a $40 million series B financing for Informed Data Systems Inc. (IDS) and its One Drop diabetes management platform. The pharma giant also inked a licensing agreement to leverage IDS, which does business as One Drop, in therapeutic areas beyond diabetes and secured a seat on One Drop's board of directors.

Royal Oak, Mich.-based liquid biopsy startup Oncocell MDx Inc. reeled in $22.2 million in a series B financing led by Savitr Capital, with participation from existing investors. The company, which has raised a total of $30 million to date, plans to use the proceeds to support ongoing development of its pan-disease immunogenomics platform and commercialization of its novel noninvasive blood-based tests.

Royal Oak, Mich.-based liquid biopsy startup Oncocell MDx Inc. reeled in $22.2 million in a series B financing led by Savitr Capital, with participation from existing investors. The company, which has raised a total of $30 million to date, plans to use the proceeds to support ongoing development of its pan-disease immunogenomics platform and commercialization of its novel noninvasive blood-based tests.

Anokion SA, a Swiss biotech focused on autoimmune disease, is bringing in-house a startup it spun out for a development alliance with Astellas Pharma Inc. The acquisition of Kanyos Bio Inc., announced alongside news it closed a $40 million series B financing, puts front and center KAN-101, a preclinical celiac disease drug poised for an IND filing by year-end. Together with Anokion's lead candidate, ANK-780, an antigen-specific treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS), the company anticipates having two programs in clinical development within the next 12 months.

DUBLIN – Inotrem SA raised €39 million (US$42.9 million) in a series B round to finance a phase IIb trial of its first-in-class septic shock drug candidate, nangibotide, along with a candidate biomarker that may enable it to select patients most likely to benefit from the therapy.

Nkarta Therapeutics Inc.'s CEO, Paul Hastings, said while the clever spelling of the company's name puts its natural killer cell platform at the fore, he is also prompted more often than not to have to spell it out, just to make sure there's no mistake. Still, he added, the occasional hotel bill is sent to Encarta instead of Nkarta.