While the $118.3 billion raised by biopharma companies in 2021 through public and private transactions is 12% lower than the amount raised the prior year, it still represents an impressive financings record, led primarily by IPOs and venture capital rounds.
Freenome Holdings Inc. has landed $290 million from Basel, Switzerland-based Roche Holding AG to advance its multiomics platform for early cancer detection. The multimillion financing deal brings San Francisco-based Freenome’s total funding to more than $1.1 billion, securing its status as a unicorn company. It comes on the heels of a series D raise in December 2021, which netted Freenome $300 million from investors including Perceptive Advisors and RA Capital Management.
Biopharmas in Asia-Pacific raising money in public or private financings: Accro, Atom Bioscience, Bionomics, Cellusion, Chance, Hanmi, Innate, Spectrum.
In vitro diagnostic (IVD) company Virtue Diagnostics (Suzhou) Co. Ltd. has raised $100 million in a series B round to develop its clinical diagnostics and bring them to other markets. “With the latest funding, Virtue Diagnostics will hire talent, introduce technology, and expand to other markets,” said Johnson Zhang, CEO of Virtue Diagnostics.
Three biopharma IPOs rounded out the first week of the new year, with Amylyx Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cincor Pharma Inc. and Vigil Neuroscience Inc. all pricing new Nasdaq issues Dec. 7. Taken together, the offerings raised about $482 million, though all received cool receptions, with only the most mature among them, Amylyx, (NASDAQ:AMLX) holding its ground at midday.
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