HONG KONG – Biocure Technology Corp., a Canadian biopharmaceutical company focusing on biosimilar products, is advancing a CAR T product through its South Korean subsidiary, Biocurepharm Inc., thanks to a recently closed private placement.

Gns Healthcare landed $23 million in a series D fundraising round led by Cigna Ventures. Cigna's wholly owned corporate venture fund joined Amgen Ventures, Celgene Corp., Echo Health Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments and Gary Loveman, former Caesar's CEO and Aetna division president, in the latest round.

Eyenovia Inc., of New York, said it closed its underwritten public offering of 4.38 million shares of common stock at $2.78 each for net proceeds of approximately $11.2 million. 

Trefoil Therapeutics Inc.'s $28 million from an oversubscribed series A financing will let the company finish a phase IIa proof-of-concept study as researchers edge toward attacking corneal endothelial dystrophy, including Fuchs dystrophy, a disease that leads to the deterioration of the endothelial layer on the back surface of the cornea.

LONDON – AM-Pharma BV has raised €116 million (US$130.7 million) in a series E round to fund phase III development of its recombinant alkaline phosphatase, Recap, in the treatment of sepsis-associated acute kidney injury (SA-AKI).

Some new investors pitched in to Recursion Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s $121 million series C financing, adding to the industry's vision of the importance of AI and machine learning.

Valeo Pharma Inc., of Montreal, said it filed its final short form prospectus in each of the provinces and territories of Canada in connection with its sale of a minimum of 4 million units and a maximum of 16 million units at CA50 cents each for gross proceeds of between CA$2 million (US$1.53 million) and CA$8 million (US$6.13 million). 

Horizon Therapeutics plc, of Dublin, said Horizon Pharma U.S. Inc., its wholly owned subsidiary, priced its offering of $600 million aggregate principal amount of 5.5% senior notes due 2027. 

Although the public biopharmaceutical sector set a fast pace at the beginning of the year, it has been all downhill since February, with the BioWorld Biopharmaceutical index losing 16% of its value. However, a strong performance in June, with the group gaining 7.6%, helped the sector marginally push into positive territory year-to-date (YTD). At the halfway point of the year, the index is trailing the general market by a wide margin, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average trading up 14% and the Nasdaq Composite index up 20%. 

Phagomed Biopharma GmbH, a Viennese company born of frustrations with the rise of multidrug-resistant infections and confidence in the potential for bacteriophage therapies to address them, has landed a €1.5 million (US$1.7 million) equity investment from new and existing investors. It's the second part of a €2.3 million seed financing, raised ahead of a series A round the company hopes to secure in 2020 to help it move toward the clinic in 2021.