LONDON - Oncolytic virus startup Theolytics Ltd. is looking to raise a series A round as it prepares to take its first product into phase I in the treatment of multiple myeloma.

Phagomed Biopharma GmbH, a Viennese company born of frustrations with the rise of multidrug-resistant infections and confidence in the potential for bacteriophage therapies to address them, has landed a €1.5 million (US$1.7 million) equity investment from new and existing investors. It's the second part of a €2.3 million seed financing, raised ahead of a series A round the company hopes to secure in 2020 to help it move toward the clinic in 2021.

Century Therapeutics Inc. came out of stealth mode Monday with $250 million in funding commitments from lead investor Bayer AG, founding investor Versant Ventures and strategic partner Fujifilm Holdings Corp. to develop next-generation allogeneic cell therapies for cancer, based on induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).