Pleco Therapeutics BV has raised €17.3 million (US$17.1 million) in equity, loan and grant financing to move its lead program into a phase I trial next year. The company, based in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, is bringing a fresh perspective to bear on a longstanding therapeutic concept – that cancer can be tackled by metal chelation. Quite a number of agents have entered the clinic over the years, but none as yet has delivered any useful outcome.

After raising AU$2.2 million in its series A round, University of Western Australia spinout Lixa Pty Ltd. has emerged from stealth mode and is gearing up for clinical trials of its anti-biofilm platform technology that could preserve antibiotics in the fight against antimicrobial resistance.

While biopharma financings are down in value by 55.8% in comparison with last year, and even more in comparison with 2020, amounts raised are very much in line with the pre-pandemic year of 2019. So far this year biopharma companies have raised $38.56 billion through 674 transactions, not too far off from the $37.9 billion raised three years ago through 706 deals completed by the end of August.

Investments in early stage biotech companies were in focus at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s (HKEX) Biotech Summit 2022. The virtual event on Sept. 1 saw discussions centered on this investment trend for younger biotech firms, which looks to be where capital is headed in the sector after a cooldown for listings in Chinese stock markets in the first half of 2022.

Biocytogen Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. has raised HK$471.1 million (US$60 million) in net proceeds through an initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Sept. 1. It plans to use about three-quarters of the proceeds to advance clinical trials of two of its core anticancer candidates, YH-003 and YH-001. Company shares (HKEX:2315), initially offered at HK$25.22 each, closed at HK$26 on their first trading day.

Taiwan’s Brim Biotechnology Inc. announced a capital raise of $18 million to advance its lead candidate, regenerative peptide therapy BRM-421, to phase III trials for dry eye syndrome. It’s designed to offer relief from dry eye symptoms by stimulating proliferation and differentiation of stem cells to repair damage to the cornea. “Our goal is restoration and repair of the damage caused by DES,” said Brim founder and CEO Haishan Jang.