Start-Ups & SMEs
Private Company Edition: Three out of eight $100m-plus venture capital financings so far in December were raised by China-based biotech firms – $110m for SanegeneBio, $108m for D3 Bio and $100m for OTR – reflecting growing interest in drug candidates from the country.
Deal Snapshot: The US giant has entered into an antibody biobucks deal with China's Harbour BioMed that could be worth over $1bn.
The France-based biotech is making solid progress amid mounting talk of a sale.
Now in their 21st year, the Scrip Awards celebrated biopharma successes at the 2025 ceremony in London’s Mayfair, where AstraZeneca and Noubar Afeyan took home the top prizes.
The oral GLP-1 showed efficacy on par with Lilly’s orforglipron, positioning it as a contender in the red-hot obesity drug market.
The Polish biotech says that data presented at the Orlando meeting also strengthens its confidence in the CDK8/19 inhibitor's potential across hematologic cancers with limited treatment options.
Private Company Edition: Protego’s series B round comes four years after its $51m series A. Also, Aspen Neuroscience reveals a $115m series C round, Profluent raises $106m to fund AI-enabled protein design and Phrontline brings in $60m in pre-series A+ financing.
The €150m agreement is music to the ears of biotechs battling to find cash.
The growth of China’s biopharma sector has been perhaps the most significant sector trend this year – Scrip outlines five themes that have emerged during 2025 and in discussions at the recent Jefferies conference in London.
Satellos is moving to start a double-blinded Phase II trial of its experimental Duchenne muscular dystrophy candidate that looks to mimic the effects of dystrophin on muscle stem cells.
Private Company Edition: Solve Therapeutics raised $120m in new funding for its Phase I ADC programs and CloakLink linker platform, while Artios will use its $115m series D cash to fund Phase II trials for its drugs targeting the DNA damage response in cancer, plus other recent VC financings.
The company announced encouraging results from the Phase I/II ALKOVE-2 trial and plans to discuss the data with the US FDA.
A rush of bigger M&A deals is inspiring renewed confidence in the biotech sector, but US companies are facing up to unprecedented competition from China.
Continued success in building biotech companies and finding big pharma buyers has convinced investors to put a record sum into Sofinnova’s latest fund.
The regulatory setback comes as a blow because troriluzole was set to be Biohaven’s sole near-term revenue generator.
Alteogen's preparations to move its stock listing, ABL Bio's injection of funds into its US subsidiary to progress clinical trials and Ensol's plans for a Phase III trial of its osteoarthritis contender are among key recent developments in Korean biotech.
While other gene therapies disease areas have fallen out of favor, eye disease candidates seem to be attracting more funding. Italy-based AAVantgarde is the latest to achieve a mega-round.
Japan's leading bioclusters tell a session at BioJapan that building a tight-knit community will help better connect different players in the startup ecosystem and help ventures grow and expand internationally.
At recent conferences in Seoul, participants discussed various hurdles for growth in the Korean biotech ecosystem and potential opportunities such as the ongoing collaborations between Korea and Japan.
Private Company Edition: Electra will run a Phase II/III trial for ELA026 and advance a second SIRP-targeting drug with its new cash. Also, cardiovascular-focused Kardigan raised $254m, while Veradermics and Pelage brought in $150m and $120m, respectively, for hair loss treatments.