New commitments by investors in Boston-based Omega Funds have put the firm on track to deploy $438 million into new and existing life sciences companies during what Managing Director Otello Stampacchia called "the most exciting time to be investing in life sciences in a generation." The final close adds to what's becoming a busy season for fund rollouts, punctuated so far this month by announcements of closing for a new series A-focused $210 million fund from Perceptive Advisors and a new $115 million med-tech-focused fund from Israel's Peregrine Ventures.
A pair of Israeli health tech companies, Beyond Verbal and Healthymize, plan to merge to form Newton, Mass.-based Vocalis Health. The company will be focused on developing vocal biomarkers, which track voice patterns via phone calls or smart devices to screen for various voice-indicating ailments including chronic respiratory and cardiac conditions, as well as depression. Vocalis has raised a $9 million financing led by Israeli health tech and life science venture firm Amoon to accumulate additional clinical data and enhance its voice database.
Current Health Ltd., of Edinburgh, Scotland, scooped up $11.5 million in a series A financing that was led by MMC Ventures. The funds are earmarked to scale up Current Health’s patient management platform, with the aim of preventing global illness in 1 million patients by 2021. Legal & General Group plc, a London-based financial services company, was the largest investor in the round and represents Current Health’s first corporate investor.
BEIJING – Chengdu-based Sichuan Clover Biopharmaceuticals Inc. closed a series B financing round to inject another $43 million into its drug development and manufacturing operations, with a focus on biologic candidate SCB-313, developed with its Trimer-Tag technology platform.
The mechanical removal of clots from the brain has become increasingly standard in ischemic stroke cases. Last year, the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association guidelines expanded the recommended window for its use up to 24 hours an event. Aspiration-based device stroke treatment startup Imperative Care Inc. has now raised an $85 million series C round to back the marketing of two recently cleared products on this front.
TORONTO – Synaptive Medical Inc. has completed the first round of a new preferred equity investment totaling $25 million led by Guelph-Ontario-based Linamar Corp., which also entered into a manufacturing agreement with Synaptive, and Calgary’s Audible Capital Corp.
BEIJING – Chinese transcatheter heart valve developer Venus Medtech (Hangzhou) Inc. on Tuesday saw its share prices jump around 20% on its debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX), an excellent start for a prerevenue med-tech IPO.
LONDON – Biotech billionaire Bob Duggan is taking a majority stake in Summit Therapeutics plc, as part of a proposed subscription and placing to raise $50 million. The scheme has to be voted through by shareholders, but assuming it is approved, Duggan will control approximately 73% of Summit’s enlarged share capital. Duggan previously invested $25 million in the company at the start of 2019, and already holds 49% of the stock.
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