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Artios Banks $153m On The Back Of Novartis And Merck KGaA Deals

UK Biotech Completes Impressive Series C

 
• By William Masters

Artios Pharma rides the wave of DDR enthusiasm following the recent signing of big pharma partnerships with a financing to bring its first-in-class cancer treatments into the clinic.

• Source: Alamy

Cambridge, UK-based Artios Pharma Limited, specializing in DNA damage response (DDR), has raised £110m ($153m) in a series C round to advance its novel cancer treatments into the clinic. This is following the signing of high-profile partnerships with Merck KGaA and Novartis AG in December 2020 and April 2021 respectively, which came with significant upfront payments and potentially billions of dollars in sales milestones and royalty payments.

The series C was co-led by Omega Funds and TCG X, along with additional investors Avidity Partners, Invus, Deep Track Capital, Sofinnova Partners, Tetragon Financial Group, RTW Investments LP, Soleus Capital, Piper Heartland Healthcare Capital, CaaS Capital Management, and Schroders Capital

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Hengrui Set For Biggest Biopharma IPO So Far This Year

 
• By Dexter Jie Yan

Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals is gearing up for what will be 2025's biggest biopharma IPO so far, hoping to raise up to $1.27bn on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. China's top drug maker by pipeline size plans to use part of the proceeds to reboot its overseas clinical trials ambitions.

Finance Watch: Funding Alternatives Become The Norm In Tough Public Markets

 
• By Mandy Jackson

Public Company Edition: With fewer follow-on offerings, drug developers are pursuing other options. Axsome accessed up to $570m in debt, Evolus obtained $250m in a new credit facility and Abeona raised $155m from a PRV sale, but Apimeds was able to execute a small $13.5m IPO.

‘Market Developments’ Persuade Galapagos To Rethink Spin-Off

 
• By Andrew McConaghie

CEO Paul Stoffels exits early to be succeeded by Henry Gosebruch, who will now consider ‘all options’ for the Belgian firm as it tries to claw back investor confidence.

Azafaros Banks Over €130m To Advance Nizubaglustat Into Phase III

 
• By Kevin Grogan

The therapy has been developed for GM1 and GM2 gangliosidoses and Niemann-Pick disease type C.

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Merck KGaA Braces For Volatility But Does Not Expect Europe To Budge On Pricing

 
• By Andrew McConaghie

Shares are hit as German conglomerate lowers revenue forecast.

Leo Roars To A Profit In Q1 As Adbry Grows In US

 
• By Kevin Grogan

The Danish firm's atopic dermatitis drug is holding its own despite strong competition from Sanofi/Regeneron’s Dupixent.

Cipla Leadership’s Early Take On Trump’s Pricing EO And Pipeline Progress

 
• By Anju Ghangurde

Cipla's CEO underlines that US generic prices are already “very significantly comparable” with the rest of the world and expects President Donald Trump's executive order on drug pricing to primarily impact branded pharmaceuticals. The company also shared updates on its US pipeline.