Tech-enabled diabetes and chronic conditions management company Cecelia Health has secured $13 million in a series B financing led by Rittenhouse Ventures and Endo Investors. Other participants in the round included Boston Millennia Partners, SustainVC and G100 Capital. The funds will be used to speed and further scale adoption of the company’s coaching and telemedicine tools and to build out digital health capabilities.
HONG KONG – Following positive phase II data on Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s once-weekly GLP-1/glucagon receptor dual agonist, efinopegdutide, in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), the Seoul-based company has exclusively licensed the drug to Kenilworth, N.J.-based Merck & Co. Inc. for the indication.
Senseonics Holdings Inc. is one of the latest med-tech companies to release its quarterly numbers, revealing sales of $261,000, a decline of -94.3% year-over-year. That figure may have fallen below SVB Leerink Research’s estimate of $1.6 million and consensus at $1.4 million “given the company's well-telegraphed ongoing strategic review,” wrote Danielle Antalffy in a note. Still, Senseonics had some good news, which Antalffy heralded as “very positive.” That came in the form of a financial and strategic partnership with Ascensia Diabetes Care that revolves around a global commercialization and distribution agreement and a concurrent financing deal.
People with diabetes are at risk of developing diabetic retinopathy (DR), an eye condition that can cause vision loss and blindness. However, early detection and treatment can slow its progress. To that end, the Food and Drug Administration has cleared the way for Eyenuk Inc. to market its Eyeart autonomous artificial intelligence (AI) system for DR screening in the U.S.
Improving metabolic disorders without major changes in diet and exercise is typically seen as impossible, unless bariatric surgery is involved. But that’s precisely what Fractyl Laboratories Inc. aims to do. It plans to start a pivotal trial of its duodenal mucosal resurfacing system, Revita DMR, before year end.
HONG KONG – Following positive phase II data on Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s once-weekly GLP-1/glucagon receptor dual agonist, efinopegdutide, in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), the Seoul-based company has exclusively licensed the drug to Kenilworth, N.J.-based Merck & Co. Inc. for the indication.
In a move that Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Inc. chief Lonnel Coats said will focus the company on its phase II neuropathic pain program, The Woodlands, Texas-based venture has agreed to sell one of its two approved products, the carcinoid syndrome diarrhea therapy Xermelo (telotristat ethyl), to Tersera Therapeutics LLC for $159 million in cash.
HONG KONG – Daejeon, South Korea-based biotechnology company G2GBIO Inc. has raised ₩11.4 billion (US$9.53 million) from a series B financing round, with the funds to be used on clinical trials for a sustained-release Alzheimer’s treatment as well as nonclinical trials for diabetes and sustained-release postoperative pain treatments.
Indigo Diabetes NV is working to develop a next-generation continuous glucose monitor (CGM) that would be much simpler and easier to use routinely, potentially making it more useful for a much larger population. It has just raised a €38 million ($44.5 million) series B financing to support that effort.
LONDON – Enthera Pharmaceuticals Srl has announced the largest international series A to date for an Italian biotech, closing a €28 million (US$32.9 million) round, to take programs in type 1 diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) into phase I development.