StartUps and SMEs

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.

Israeli-American biotech Immunai is mapping the immune system and using AI to predict immune responses to drugs.

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

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.

Following strong demand for offerings by D&D Pharmatech and ENCell, sentiment around biopharma IPOs in Korea appears to be improving, with several other ventures planning to float.

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.

Medtech Insight spoke with Vicky Demas, CEO of Identifeye, about plans for bringing the company’s AI-powered retinal screening system for early detection of diabetic retinopathy to primary care facilities. More than 50% of the roughly 38 million Americans who have diabetes skip retinal screenings at present, increasing risk of developing the leading cause of blindness in adults.

Data from Evaluate show that biopharma venture capital investment fell from $7.95bn in Q2 to $6.59bn in Q3, but both outpaced every quarter in 2023 as the financial market recovery continues.

ProBiotix Health has announced two commercial partnerships for the distribution of its probiotic ingredients, with Deutsch-Pharm in Ukraine and Eifron in Greece respectively.