Artificial intelligence is moving further into drug discovery with the launch of Charm Therapeutics Ltd., which arrives on the scene with a $50 million series A round.
Two years on from establishing the first such fund, Dutch venture capital firm Forbion has announced a second growth opportunities fund, to be devoted to late-stage biotechs in Europe. The new fund has reached a first close of €470 million (US$500.6 million) and is expected to meet its hard cap of €600 million over the summer.
Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co. Ltd., its subsidiary Shengdi Investment Management Holding Co. Ltd., and Hengrui Group are to invest ¥2.01 billion (US$301 million) to jointly set up an equity investment company targeting pharmaceutical and health care companies.
In August 2020, it looked like DBV Technologies SA was in considerable trouble after the U.S. FDA served it with a rejection for its Viaskin Peanut allergy patch, raising concerns efficacy could be compromised because the product wasn’t sticking to the skin well. But could the Montrouge, France-based firm be making a comeback with the epicutaneous technology?
AI-enabled drug discovery company Insilico Medicine Ltd. has raised $60 million in a series D round to support expansion of its pipeline. The Hong Kong and New York-based company will use the proceeds to support clinical testing of its lead asset, a potential treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), as well as the advancement of its Pharma.AI platform.
Synklino A/S has raised €29.8 million (US$31.8 million) in a series A round to take forward SYN-002, a treatment for cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections in both donated organs and patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell and solid organ transplants.
Ariceum Therapeutics GmbH is picking up where Ipsen SA left off and taking forward the targeted radiopharmaceutical drug satoreotide, developed by the French pharma to phase II but subsequently divested when it ditched its radiation therapy portfolio.