Finance Watch

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.

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.

Private Company Edition: Despite a third quarter dip, venture capital investment in biopharma in 2024 is on track to beat 2023, new data confirm. VC mega-rounds of $100m or more helped boost the total, including recent financings totaling $175m for Alpha-9 and $112m for AvenCell.

Public Company Edition: In addition to Septerna’s initial public offering, a new life science-focused SPAC went public. Also, Inventiva raised up to €348m ($376.2m), Akeso revealed a $250m private placement and Marinus is exploring strategic alternatives after a Phase III trial failure.

Private Company Edition: Seaport completed its series B round six months after launching with $100m. Also, Treeline disclosed $421.8m in new funding, among other recent $100m-plus VC mega-rounds, and three venture firms revealed more than $2.5bn in new funds.

Public Company Edition: Upstream grossed $255m and CAMP4 raised $75m in October’s first initial public offerings. In follow-on offerings, Crinetics and Scholar Rock brought in $500m and $300m, respectively. Also, Turnstone cut 60% of its workforce and Gritstone filed for bankruptcy.

Public Company Edition: Septerna, Apimeds, CAMP4 and Upstream filed paperwork with the SEC aiming to take advantage of renewed investor interest in IPOs. Also, Biohaven closed a $287.5m offering and Grifols subsidiary GigaGen obtained up to $135m from BARDA.

Private Company Edition: ARCH raised more than $3bn for its eighth fund, Frazier added $630m to its public fund that also can back crossover rounds, DCVC’s third biotech fund totaled $400m and Asabys raised €180m ($200m) for its second fund. Also, Aktis closed a $175m series B round. 

Public Company Edition: BioAge will fund a Phase II trial of its muscle atrophy prevention drug in combination with an obesity drug with its initial public offering proceeds. Also, Ascendis and Wave raised $281.3m and $200m, respectively, after positive clinical trial readouts.

Private Company Edition: Vicebio plans to take a combo vaccine into Phase I with its $100m series B venture capital round. Also, Nura Bio raised $68m to boost its series A total to $141m and George Church-founded GC Therapeutics launched with $75m, among other recent VC deals.

Public Company Edition: Follow-on public offerings brought in $500m for Nuvalent, $235m for Summit and $225m each for Centessa and Viridian after recent readouts. Also, Kairos raised $6.2m in this year’s 19th IPO, Bayer sold €750m ($834m) in bonds and an Ionis FOPO grossed $500.3m.

Private Company Edition: Bain will invest across private and public drug, device, diagnostic and tool companies. Also, Candid debuted with $370m in initial funding, Superluminal closed a $120m series A round, PanTera raised €93m ($102.4m) in series A cash and F2G brought in $100m.

ArsenalBio closed one of the largest VC rounds so far in 2024, raising $325m in series C funding, while Vaxcyte grossed $1.3bn in a follow-on offering. Also, Circle Pharma closed a $90m series D round and Jazz priced an $850m note sale, but IN8bio revealed a prioritization plan and job cuts.

Fifteen biopharma firms have launched IPOs in the US this year, but three more have joined the queue. Also, Galderma sold CHF500m ($590.7m) in bonds to pay down debt, Noetik raised a $40m series A round and ImCheck collected €20.18m ($22.4m) from the French government.

Restructuring Edition: BioMarin’s layoffs are associated with strategic shifts announced during its second quarter update. Also, Repare reduced its workforce by 25% as it focused in on clinical-stage programs and Aadi cut 80% of its R&D team to conserve cash after a clinical trial failure. 

BridgeBio spun out oncology assets in May to focus on rare diseases and now it has sliced off a few rare disease candidates for GondolaBio. Also, Avidity and Kymera closed follow-on offerings that grossed $345.1m and $225m, respectively, and Vandria extended its series A round to $30.7m.

Restructuring Edition: Lykos recruited a J&J veteran to help its slimmed-down staff resubmit its MDMA-based PTSD therapy. Also, Lexicon cut its field force by 50%, or 75 jobs; Viracta cut its solid tumor program and 23% of its workforce; and Boundless Bio streamlined with moderate job cuts.

Public Company Edition: Actuate Therapeutics grossed $22.4m in its first-time offering, while already-public companies recently tapped a variety of sources for funding. Arrowhead negotiated a credit facility for up to $500m and ANI sold $275m worth of notes, among other financings.

Private Company Edition: Symbiotic Capital emerged with a $600m-plus fund to provide credit for private and public companies, while venBio raised a $528m fund. Also, Outpace Bio raised $144m, Jade Biosciences launched with $80m and MBX Biosciences raised $63.5m.