Orthoson Ltd. closed a £8.9 million (US$11.1 million) oversubscribed series A, which will be devoted to completing preparations for its ultrasound/hydrogel combination treatment for repairing degenerated spinal discs to start phase I clinical trials.

Investors showed some love to French remote patient monitoring and cardiac data startup Implicity SAS, contributing $23 million to the company’s series A financing round. New investors Crédit Mutuel Innovation and Bpifrance led the round with support from BNP Paribas Development and returning seed investors Serena, Xange and Karista.

U.S. private equity group Carlyle is extending its reach into biotech financing through the acquisition of London-based venture capital firm Abingworth, with which it is forming Launch Therapeutics, an operating company that will fund and manage late-stage clinical development of programs sourced from pharma and biotech companies. The move will enable further scaling of the clinical co-development model Abingworth first devised in 2009.