Upsized IPOs for high-profile psychedelics venture Compass Pathways plc and the neurodegenerative specialist Athira Pharma Inc. debuted on Nasdaq on Sept. 18, climbing fast alongside a forward-looking follow-on offering from cytokine storm fighter Humanigen Inc. Compass (NASDAQ:CMPS) raised $127.5 million, while Athira (NASDAQ:ATHA) brought in $204 million. Humanigen (NASDAQ:HGEN) raised $68 million.
LONDON – Lava Therapeutics BV has raised $83 million in a series C round, enabling it to begin clinical trials of its bispecific gamma-delta T-cell engager technology, in both a hematologic and a solid tumor indication in 2021.
Synthekine Inc., a California startup developing new medicines for cancer and autoimmune disorders, has closed an $82 million series A financing. The funds will help the company move its two lead programs into the clinic, expand its discovery pipeline and hone its cytokine engineering platforms.
Palleon Pharmaceuticals Inc. CEO and founder Jim Broderick told BioWorld that the just-raised $100 million in series B money leaves the firm well positioned to push its lead oncology compound into the clinic next year, bolstered by a widely gathered team of experts – “almost a consortium” – in glycan mediation.
DUBLIN – Finch Therapeutics Inc. closed a $90 million series D round to take its oral microbiome therapy, CP-101, into late-stage clinical development and registration in chronic Clostridioides difficile infection and to move two additional programs, for chronic hepatitis B virus infection and autistic spectrum disorder, into the clinic.
DUBLIN – Versant Ventures, the founding investor of Crispr Therapeutics AG, is teaming up with one of the academic founders of that company, Stanford University’s Matt Porteus, to start a new gene editing firm, Graphite Bio Inc., which is focused on targeted integration of DNA to achieve a therapeutic benefit.
Advanced diagnostics startup Coremap Inc., which is developing a technology capable of identifying the drivers of atrial fibrillation (AF), scooped up $10.5 million in a series A financing led by Qure Ventures. The funds will be used to accelerate product development and future regulatory submissions. Founded in 2016, the Burlington, Vt.-based company has raised nearly $12 million to date.