Mirador Therapeutics Inc. has launched with more than $400 million to develop therapies for treating immune-mediated inflammatory and fibrotic diseases. The company plans to develop precision medicines using its engine for genetic profiling. The company was founded by former Prometheus Biosciences Inc. CEO Mark McKenna. Merck & Co. Inc. bought Prometheus for $10.8 billion in April 2023. The financing was led by Arch Venture Partners, along with Orbimed and Fairmount. Other investors include Fidelity Management & Research Co., Point72, Farallon Capital Management, Boxer Capital, TCGX, Invus, Logos Capital, Moore Strategic Ventures, Blue Owl Healthcare Opportunities, Sanofi Ventures, Woodline Partners LP, Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, RTW Investments and Alexandria Venture Investments.
Hodgkin lymphoma bids active by Affimed and Seagen as research goes on
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma tends to garner more attention, but efforts are continuing as well in Hodgkin lymphoma, where such players as Affimed NV and Seagen Inc. have been making strides. A better therapy could be around the bend. And none too soon, as recent research found that women treated for the disease with doxorubicin had a significantly increased risk of breast cancer.
Newco news: US-China company Triarm on a mission to democratize CAR Ts
Triarm Therapeutics Ltd. is on a mission to democratize CAR T therapies to make them more accessible and affordable, Triarm CEO Jay Zhang told BioWorld. “Nearly half of the patients eligible for CAR T therapies still cannot get treated, and the main reason is the expense, and the second is they cannot afford to wait. We cannot tolerate people spending like $500,000 and waiting a month to two months to get treatment, so we came up with a different idea, which is a nonviral, faster manufacturing CAR T approach, that we call ‘fast-in-time,’ or FIT.”
Oncology Pharma stock-selling scheme ends in consent agreement
Kevin Dills, who the U.S. SEC said secretly controlled Oncology Pharma Inc., consented to a final civil judgment this week in federal district court related to a fraudulent stock-selling scheme. Under the judgment, Dills agreed to pay a $223,229 penalty and disgorge more than $6.2 million along with prejudgment interest. In addition, two front companies he controlled, Bright Star International Inc. and Life Sciences Journeys Inc., agreed to disgorge $6.9 million and nearly $92,000, respectively. Dills also faces criminal prosecution for his role in the scheme that involved selling Oncology Pharma’s stock through the two front companies to flout federal registration requirements, the SEC said.
Merck pours €300M+ in S. Korea as big pharma ups Asia investment
As investment in Asia biohubs continues into 2024, Merck KGaA’s Milliporesigma is the latest to drop more than €300 million (US$328 million) into a new bioprocessing production center in Daejeon, South Korea. Other big pharmas, including Switzerland’s Novartis AG, Denmark’s Novo Nordisk A/S and China’s Wuxi Biologics (Cayman) Inc., are also making multimillion-dollar investments in the Asia-Pacific region, according to company announcements made in March 2024. The flurry of investment activity highlights a significant flow of capital into Asia as global pharmaceutical firms work to build up local production capacity.