Caresyntax GmbH, a Berlin-based provider of surgical automation, analytics and AI software technologies, picked up $45.6 million in venture funding. The funds will be used to accelerate U.S. and global expansion and support continued development and deployment of Caresyntax products. Participating in the financing were Whiz Partners, a Takeda-back drug discovery gateway investment limited partnership, Plug and Play Tech Center, Barco Healthcare, Mitsubishi Corp., Relyens, IPF Partners and Caresyntax founders Dennis Kogan and Bjoern von Siemens.
HONG KONG ā Singapore and U.S.-based Hummingbird Bioscience Pte Ltd. has raised $19 million in a series B financing round. Proceeds will be used to support the discovery of new disease targets and to fuel the work of co-discovery projects that are part of a multitarget collaboration agreement valued at more than $1 billion signed with Amgen Inc. in September.
BEIJING ā Suzhou-based Alphamab Oncology Co. Ltd. (HK:9966), which aims to bring the first PD-L1/CTLA4 bispecific antibody to China, saw its share prices jump almost 30% on its debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) on Dec. 12, 2019, ending the year on a positive note for the pre-revenue biotech.
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.