The dramatic increase in COVID-19 infections in Europe and the U.S., combined with information overload surrounding the lead up to the Nov. 3 contentious U.S. presidential election, was more than enough to send investors to the sidelines in October.

LONDON – Former CEO of Novartis AG Joe Jimenez is emerging back into the limelight as founder and managing director of Aditum Bio, a new $135 million venture capital fund set up to create five to six companies to take forward early stage compounds in-licensed from pharma.

Gracell Biotechnologies Inc. has closed a $100 million series C financing round to advance its CAR T-cell therapy candidates, including autologous product candidate, GC-012F, and allogeneic product candidate, GC-027. Both candidates are in investigator-initiated phase I trials in China.

PARIS – At the recent annual HealthTech Innovations Days in Paris, the European investment Fund (EIF) and the world’s largest life sciences consortium, EIT Health Germany, reported the development of a Venture Centre of Excellence (VCoE) in Europe.