Financing

Verona Pharma is rising high with the newly-launched chronic obstructive pulmonary disease drug Ohtuvayre but its development would have been severely compromised if it had not been for government benefits, non-executive chair David Ebsworth tells Scrip.

Private Company Edition: Atlas Venture closed its $450m Fund XIV after some notable exits. Also, Nuvig’s $161m series B round more than triples its $47m series A from 2022, while Maze’s $115m series D fell below its prior $190m round and Antag raised an €80m ($84.7m) series A.

Coherus agreed to sell its biosimilar of Amgen’s Neulasta to Intas in a deal that will clear significant near-term debt and provide funds for a label-expansion strategy for its PD-1 agent Loqtorzi.

The company’s CD40 agonist mitazalimab has impressed in Phase II trials as a potential treatment for pancreatic cancer but with no partner in place yet and a lack of funds, Alligator has to cut 70% of its staff to keep going.

Public Company Edition: Biomedtracker data show the amount of money raised in both PIPEs and follow-on offerings surging in 2024. Olema and Cidara raised $250m and $105m, respectively, in recent private placements, while Spyre and Replimune grossed $200m and $140m in FOPOs.

The Carlyle-backed venture capital group is said to be working on a new fund to help finance up to eight late-stage clinical studies through potential partnerships with big pharma for a share of royalties. The move would be in keeping with its recent investment activities.

Restructuring Edition: Kronos is laying off most of its employees as it considers strategic options, including a potential sale of its assets. Also, Agenus is restructuring and other companies revealed job cuts in Q3 earnings reports, including Sensei, AN2, NextCure and Aurinia.

AstraZeneca execs talk about the challenges South Korea faces in becoming a more attractive market for investment by global pharma firms and its significance as a site for clinical trials.

Private Company Edition: The Danish ADC developer, after extending its series A twice, raised a series B to take multiple programs into the clinic. Also, Neurelis sold its Neffy royalties for $208m, Enveda closed a $130m series C round and C Ray’s series A+ financing raised $100m-plus.

With a US FDA determination that sotagliflozin cannot be approved for type 1 diabetes at this time, Lexicon is shutting down its commercial organization to focus on its R&D pipeline.

A new drug-hunting initiative funded by the Chinese government will focus on novel therapies for chronic diseases and encourage academia-industry collaboration.

Public Company Edition: President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the US Department of Health and Human Services is seen as raising the potential for regulatory risk. Also, Geron revealed up to $375m in royalty and debt financings, while Zai Lab grossed $200m in a FOPO.

Private Company Edition: TRexBio’s series B venture capital round will fund initial clinical trials for TRB-061, a TNFR2 agonist. And in addition to mega-rounds from Trace, Alentis and Metsera, Evommune and Axonis raised $115m each, while Elektrofi completed a $112.5m series C.

After emerging with $290m in April and announcing Phase I data for its lead asset in September, Metsera raised another $215m to fund clinical trials for three obesity drug candidates.

The Swiss biotech is expanding on its Claudin-1 targeting antibodies in fibrosis by moving into Phase I with its potential first-in-class antibody drug conjugates

Trace Neuroscience will take its antisense oligonucleotide that restores UNC13A protein production through proper mRNA splicing into the clinic in early 2026.

Medixci’s Nick Williams told attendees at BIO-Europe that it was a shame that promising biotechs head to the NASDAQ as soon as possible. He and called for a change in culture from investors and for them to back the continent’s start-ups with proper funding.

LaNova Medicines, as well as other Chinese RNA interference specialists and developers of stem cell-based therapies, were among those securing new funds from venture capital and private equity firms over the past few months.

Public Company Edition: Syndax received all $350m from its royalty financing up front, while KalVista got $100m initially out of up to $179m. Also, Vera, EyePoint and Eledon grossed $300m, $161m and $85m in follow-on offerings, while Neurogene raised $200m in a private placement.

As Sage prioritizes Zurzuvae for postpartum depression after recent setbacks, it will stop selling Zulresso for PPD and no longer pursue Zurzuvae in major depressive disorder.