Biopharma Money on the Move: December 9-15 – BioSpace

Posted: December 19, 2020 at 7:56 am

These life sciences companies can officially take cash off their Christmas listsafter last weeks bounty.

Certara

Thisbiosimulationcompany took in the second largest life sciences IPO of the year raking in a whopping$668 million. Selling 29.1 million shares at $23 eachput them in at a 19% increase of their original aim.Certara partners with biotech and pharmaceutical companies to accelerate drug development. According to their website, 90% of companies that received new drug approvals by the FDA since 2014 usedCertaras software or services.

AbCellera

AbCellerasdiscovery of the COVID-19 antibody used in Eli Lillysbamlanivimabrocketed this Canadian company into worldwide recognition.Joining the Nasdaq was a natural next step.Themonoclonal antibodywas the first approved by the FDA for the treatment of COVID-19.Originally prepping for a$391 million IPO,AbCelleraupped its offering to 24.15 million shares at $20 per share forexpected proceedsof$483 million, a 24% increase.

Tempus

Mega-raiser Tempus took in another$200 millionin a Series G-2 financing round, bringing their total lifetime raise to $1.05 billion.Currently employing around 1,500, the precision medicine company will use the funds to expand operations and expand to other disease areas includinginfectiousdiseases, depression and cardiology.Tempus AI platform analyzes multi-modal data across major disease types to look for therapeutically relevant insights.

4D Molecular Therapeutics

Offering 1.4 million more shares than planned, 4D raised 23% more, bringing their IPO toraise to$193 million.4D is in a collaboration with pharma giant Roche and has support from Pfizer as well, with these factors adding to the interest of its upsized IPO.The companys target is on both rare and large market diseases, including patient populations that other gene therapies arent able to address.

Locanabio

Building on last years$55 millionraise, San Diego-basedLocanabiosecured$100 millionthis week in a Series B financing round. The funds will be used to advance the companys portfolio of RNA-targeted gene therapies for neurodegenerative, neuromuscular and retinal diseases.Locanabiosunique approach combines gene therapy and RNA modifications to treat disease. Using a gene therapy vector, the treatments deliver RNA-targeting protein tipped with an RNA-modifying enzyme with the potential to treat many diseases linked to the dysfunctional processing of RNA.

Nanobiotix

This French nanoparticle drug developer sold its shares at the low point of their target range, $13.50, but still raked in$99 millionfor their Nasdaq debut.Nanobiotixsproprietary technology, NBTXR3 is a first-in-classradioenhancerto work across solidtumors, enhancing radiotherapy efficacy and producingan immune response with just oneinjection into the tumor. The treatment is currently intwo Phase II studiesfor patients with head and neck cancer.

Reneo Pharmaceuticals

With a focus on genetic mitochondrial diseases, Reneos Series B brought in$95 millionin a financing round led by Novo Ventures andAbingworth.Reneos lead candidate, REN001,has completed an open label safety and tolerability study in patients with primary mitochondrial myopathies. The funds from this raise will take REN001througha Phase II trial.The compoundworks to improve cellular energy metabolism by enhancingmitochondrial function and potentially increasing the number of mitochondria.

Faze Medicines

Biomolecular condensates have been around fordecades, but haverecently begun to gain traction in the biopharma world. Faze is the third company this year to snag investment cash in pursuit of this target. The$81 millionSeriesA will go into the preclinical research in two focus areas:amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1). The remaining funds will be used to research condensate biology in other disease areas. Faze intends to utilize screening and proteomics techniques to identify proteins that are components of disease-causing condensates.

Rani Therapeutics

This oral biologicscompany brought in$69 millionin a Series E. Looking to transform thehealthcare market, Ranis technology converts injectable drugs into pills. The funds will accelerate the companys internal pipeline of drugs to the clinic and scale up manufacturing."TheRaniPill has the potential to transform major markets where patients must endure frequent and often painful injections," saidMir Imran, Chairman, CEO and founder of Rani Therapeutics. "With this breakthrough platform, capable of creating orally available therapeutic antibodies, peptides, and proteins, we could impact millions of patients worldwide."

Vigil Neuroscience

Launching with a$50 millionSeries A, Vigil is one of many newbiotechssetting out to fight neurodegenerative disease in 2021. The company is developing a pipeline of precision-based therapies to combat both rare and common neurodegenerative diseases by restoring the vigilance of microglia.Atlas cofounded, seeded and incubated Vigil, with pre-clinical stage assets in-licensed fromAmgen Inc.,which will remain a key shareholder.

Most Read Today

Read the rest here:
Biopharma Money on the Move: December 9-15 - BioSpace

Related Posts

Comments are closed.

Archives