1. Scrip
  2. >>Business
  3. >>Financing

Finance Watch: Summer Slowdown Nears Its End With Strategic Shifts And IPO Hopes

 
• By Mandy Jackson

Merrimack's wind-down continues with an activist challenge, but investors approved the Vical/Brickell Biotech reverse merger. Also, the past month's IPO slump may reverse course and HiFiBiO's $67m Series C leads recent financings.

Finance Watch

Strategic shifts by Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Vical Inc. took different turns during the last week of August, which was predictably quiet ahead of the long Labor Day weekend in the US in terms of new biopharmaceutical company financings.

Publicly-traded infectious disease specialist Vical announced on 30 August that the company's reverse merger with private dermatology drug developer Brickell Biotech Inc. was approved by Vical shareholders

Read the full article – start your free trial today!

Join thousands of industry professionals who rely on Scrip for daily insights

  • Start your 7-day free trial
  • Explore trusted news, analysis, and insights
  • Access comprehensive global coverage
  • Enjoy instant access – no credit card required
Start Free Trial

Already a subscriber?

More from Financing

Finance Watch: Deerfield Closes $600m-Plus VC Fund; Gates Speeds Up Health Investments

 
• By Mandy Jackson

Private Company Edition: Deerfield’s third innovations fund will back therapeutics and other opportunities, the Gates Foundation – a sometimes funder of biotech firms – will spend $200bn over the next 20 years, and NewLimit raised a $130m series B round, among other financings.

HAYA Raises $65m To Take First Long Non-Coding RNA Program Into The Clinic

 
• By Mandy Jackson

HTX-001 targeting the long non-coding RNA known as Wisper is being developed for non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. HAYA partnered with Lilly last year in obesity.

Sanofi R&D Head’s Words Of Wisdom For Biotechs

 
• By Kevin Grogan

Houman Ashrafian tells delegates at Swiss Biotech Day that ‘literally only two things matter in our industry – target credentialing and differentiated pharmacology. The rest is execution.’

Switzerland Biopharma To Stay Strong Despite More Cash Going To US And China

 
• By Kevin Grogan

The sector is continuing to show resilience despite financial and market challenges.

More from Business

Finance Watch: Deerfield Closes $600m-Plus VC Fund; Gates Speeds Up Health Investments

 
• By Mandy Jackson

Private Company Edition: Deerfield’s third innovations fund will back therapeutics and other opportunities, the Gates Foundation – a sometimes funder of biotech firms – will spend $200bn over the next 20 years, and NewLimit raised a $130m series B round, among other financings.

Pharma Left Hanging After US/UK Trade Pact

 
• By Kevin Grogan

An ‘historic economic prosperity deal’ does not include the sector.

Viatris Will File ‘Fast-Acting’ Meloxicam For FDA Approval This Year

 
• By Joseph Haas

Seven years after acquiring it, Viatris will seek approval of a meloxicam formulation for acute pain backed by data from two Phase III studies in post-surgical pain settings.