Capstan Therapeutics Inc. and Engrail Therapeutics are among the latest companies to raise venture capital mega-rounds of $100m or more as the deluge of large private financings early in 2024 coincides with a somewhat optimistic market for initial public offerings – one of two off-ramps for VC investors.
Finance Watch: Another Bevy Of VC Mega-Rounds, Including $175m For Capstan
Aegis, Primmune Reveal Gates Investment, Government Funds
Private Company Edition: Capstan and Engrail raised $175m and $157m, respectively, in series B venture capital rounds in addition to Madrigal’s $400m-plus launch and Clasp’s $150m series A.
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Public Company Edition: Stock valuations are falling due to political, economic and regulatory uncertainty, resulting in fewer large public offerings, more alternative financings and cost cuts. Carisma, Tenaya, BioAtla, Arbutus, Nkarta, Alector and Adaptimmune announced layoffs.
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CEO Kris Elverum told Scrip about the start-up’s platform for editing RNA to correct genetic variants that cause harm and to reproduce healthy variants as a means of treating disease.
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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.
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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.
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The German firm’s chairman, Hubertus von Baumbach, is adopting a ‘wait-and-see’ approach to the threat of pharma tariffs.
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Trump announced a 26% reciprocal tariff on India but a country-agnostic exemption of pharmaceuticals implies that the interests of Indian firms and the US consumer are protected for now. What is Indian pharma’s business exposure and what is domestic industry saying?
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Industry lobbied for pharmaceuticals to be exempt from Trump’s sweeping US tariffs and the effort appears to have paid off. J&J, Lilly and Merck & Co. even got shout outs.