Scion Life Sciences, an affiliate of the health care investment firm Petrichor, launched on 7 February with two friends and former Apple Tree Partners (ATP) colleagues – Scion co-founders and managing partners Sam Hall and Aaron Kantoff – at the helm. The new venture capital firm raised $310m for its inaugural fund, which it will use to build and fund new drug developers as it establishes an initial portfolio of six to seven biopharmaceutical companies.
Finance Watch: Scion Life Sciences Launches With $310m Inaugural VC Fund
Apple Tree Veterans Form New Firm
Private Company Edition: Scion’s first fund exceeded its initial $250m fundraising goal. Also, The Column Group’s incubator raised a $400m-plus fund and Seroba’s fourth fund reaches $134m, while Neurona raised a $120m financing and Cour closed a $105m series A round.

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The four-year-old firm said it plans to advance programs toward the clinic from the funding round, which comes just over a year after signing two major pharma partnerships.
Private Company Edition: The latest group of drug developers to announce venture capital financings is remarkable for its geographic diversity, from Character Biosciences’ $93m series B round in the US to Augustine’s $85m series B in Belgium to a $29.2m series C for Aculys in Japan.
Kyoto-based venture moves HQ to California to expand R&D and business outreach for its regulatory T-cell technology, as it raises around $46m in public and private funding.
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After failing a Phase II monotherapy study in early Parkinson’s, Cerevance will focus on adjunctive therapy without abandoning the monotherapy concept.
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