Magenta Medical Ltd. has raised $55 million to fast-track the development of the world’s smallest left ventricular assist device (LVAD). The financing round was led by Orbimed Private Investment LLC. With the participation of existing investors, New Enterprise Associates, Pitango VC Ltd. and Alive MS Ltd. “We will use this funding, in particular, to advance the clinical programs in the U.S. towards our first FDA approval,” David Israeli, CEO of Magenta Medical, told BioWorld.
Insulet Corp. once again broke records with a nearly 50% increase in Omnipod revenues in U.S. in the first quarter and a 32% increase in revenue from the tubeless insulin delivery device worldwide. In an unusual move following such positive quarterly results, the company simultaneously announced a major shake-up in the leadership team, with multiple senior members moving to new positions starting July 1. The latest round of musical chairs comes almost exactly a year after the last at the Insulet, when Founder, President and CEO Shacey Petrovic stepped down and Jim Hollingshead assumed the top spot.
Beijing Luzhu Biotechnology Co. Ltd. raised a net HK$242 million (US$31 million) from an IPO in Hong Kong but shares in the developer of vaccines and therapeutics for infectious diseases, cancer and autoimmune diseases plummeted on the first day of trading. Luzhu’s shares (HK:2480) started trading on May 8 at HK$31.50 and fell about 30% throughout the day to close at HK$22. Founded in 2001, Luzhu has yet to turn a profit. It recorded net losses of ¥725.2 million (US$92 million) in 2022 and ¥539.4 million in 2021.
In what has been described as one of the slowest, closed-window public markets in recent years, Acelyrin Inc. priced an upsized IPO, raising $540 million, the fifth highest amount for a U.S. IPO by a traditional biopharma company to date. Despite industry IPOs raising only $628 million throughout the first four months of 2023 – the lowest amount in 10 years, Acelyrin’s IPO suggests that there is still a strong investor appetite ready and waiting for innovative technologies with solid data.
Patient Square Capital bankrolled a new portfolio company, Elevage Medical Technologies, with $300 million to provide capital and strategic expertise to promising medical device companies. Evan Melrose, founding managing director of Spindletop Capital and a practicing family medicine physician, will lead Elevage.