A technology developed at the University of Birmingham, U.K., has been spun off as a potential treatment for ocular surface diseases. The platform technology from startup Healome Therapeutics Ltd. was developed by a team of material scientists at the University’s Healthcare Technologies Institute (HTI) that translates health technology concepts to products for clinical trials.

Forcefield Therapeutics Ltd. has arrived on the scene with £5.5 million (US$7 million) in funding to advance development of naturally occurring proteins that have been shown to arrest the loss of cardiomyocytes in the immediate aftermath of myocardial infarction.

Satellite Biosciences Inc. has become the latest biotech to emerge from stealth, backed with more than $110 million in VC financing to develop bioengineered tissues that fix damaged tissues or organs. With former Novartis executive Dave Lennon leading as CEO, the Cambridge, Mass.-based company is hoping to find therapies for hard-to-treat diseases.

Aurion Biotech Inc. pulled down a $120 million financing to advance efforts with its lead candidate, a cell therapy for the treatment of corneal edema secondary to endothelial dysfunction (CESED).

Aurion Biotech Inc. pulled down a $120 million financing to advance efforts with its lead candidate, a cell therapy for the treatment of corneal edema secondary to endothelial dysfunction (CESED).

Pangea Biomed Ltd. picked up $7 million in seed financing to fast-track development of its multicancer, multitherapy response predictor Enlight. The platform combines machine learning and RNA sequencing to map tumor molecular signatures and predict how different cancer types will respond to oncology drugs. Pangea said instead of using transcriptomic data, it is utilizing ‘unsupervised’ AI techniques that harvest information about gene interactions.

After an eight-year academic collaboration with Glaxosmithkline plc, Kynos Therapeutics Ltd. has spun out of Edinburgh University with a £9 million (US$11.7 million) financing and a phase I-ready program. The company specializes in kynurenine 3-monooxygenase (KMO), a mitochondrial outer membrane protein that is a critical gatekeeper in the kynurenine pathway of tryptophan metabolism, and which regulates inflammation and immunity.

Back in 2015, a black box warning from the U.S. FDA about the cardiovascular risks of testosterone therapy products caused a major upheaval in the market.