SK Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. and Eurofarma Laboratórios SA launched a new joint venture called Mentis Care Inc. Oct. 21, dedicated to developing an AI-powered platform for epilepsy management.

Touting a science-driven, regenerative medicine-based treatment for hair loss “designed for the 21st century,” Pelage Pharmaceuticals Inc. drew a solid group of investors to the table in an oversubscribed $120 million series B round to fund an upcoming phase III program for PP-405, a topical small molecule targeting hair follicle stem cells.

With $70 million in hand, Excellergy Inc. is ready to advance its lead candidate for allergic diseases into clinical trials. The series A round was led by Samsara Biocapital with co-investments from Red Tree Venture Capital and Decheng Capital.

Newco Trogenix Ltd. has emerged from incubation and raised £70 million (US$94.1 million) in a series A, as it prepares the ground for a U.S/U.K. clinical trial of a novel gene therapy construct in glioblastoma multiforme that is due to start at the beginning of 2026.

Mabwell Bioscience Co. Ltd. and Aditum Bio Management Co. LLC announced, in after-market hours Sept. 17, an agreement to forge a new company called Kalexo Bio Inc. and load the biotech with a preclinical dyslipidemia asset via a potential $1 billion global license deal.

To say the team at Ollin Biosciences Inc. has some experience in ophthalmology would be an understatement. The company, which emerged from stealth with $100 million in venture capital and two in-licensed assets with plans to add more, brings to the table years of expertise from work on blockbuster retinal disease drugs Lucentis (ranibizumab, Roche AG) and Vabysmo (faricimab, Roche AG).

Allrock Bio Inc. secured $50 million in a series A round co-led by Versant Ventures and Westlake Biopartners to advance ROC-101, an oral pan-rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) inhibitor to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension and pulmonary hypertension with interstitial lung disease.

Braveheart Bio Inc. is paying $65 million up front to license Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd.’s oral hypertrophic cardiomyopathy drug candidate called HRS-1893.

A few years after it was founded with the aim of taking RNA therapies to the next level, Arnatar Therapeutics Inc. emerged from stealth, disclosing a $52 million series A round raised in 2024 as well as U.S. FDA orphan and rare pediatric disease designations for ART-4, an antisense oligonucleotide candidate targeting the root cause of Alagille syndrome.

Partly focused on delivery challenges that have limited the reach of RNA medicines, new biotech company Axelyf Inc. closed a $2.6 million seed round to support development of its AXL technology and to advance lead autoimmune candidate AXL-003.