Maplight Therapeutics Inc.’s pricing of a $258.9 million financing this week revived the debate over whether targeting the M1 as well as the M4 muscarinic receptor – as Bristol Myers Squibb Co. does with U.S. FDA-approved Cobenfy (xanomeline and trospium chloride) for schizophrenia – is a better strategy than going after M4 alone.

Zag Bio Inc. came out of stealth mode with $80 million in funding so far, including a recently closed series A financing, to develop its platform for autoimmune diseases using drugs targeted to the thymus where thymic regulatory cells are produced.

U.K. biotech companies raised 46% less in the third quarter (Q3) of 2025 than in the previous quarter, at £187 million (US$249.3 million). The Q3 2025 figure was also in the shade compared to Q1 2025, when biotechs raised £881 million, and 73% less than in Q3 2024.

French VC Andera Partners has reached the first close of its Biodiscovery Fund 7 at more than €300 million (US$349 million) and says it is on track to surpass the size of the previous fund, which closed at €456 million during the pandemic-driven boom of 2021.

Ena Respiratory Pty Ltd. raised an AU$34 million (US$22.4 million) series B round to advance INNA-051, its nasal spray for symptomatic viral respiratory infections, to phase II trials. New investors in the Melbourne-headquartered company include the Gates Foundation and Flu Lab. Existing investors Brandon Capital, Uniseed and Stoic Venture Capital also participated in the round.

Expedition Medicines, which Flagship Pioneering Inc. has incubated for the past three years, came out of stealth mode with a $50 million commitment from Flagship to support Expedition’s platform technology to discover small molecules that covalently bind to their target.

Expedition Medicines, which Flagship Pioneering Inc. has incubated for the past three years, came out of stealth mode with a $50 million commitment from Flagship to support Expedition’s platform technology to discover small molecules that covalently bind to their target.