Athira Pharma Inc.’s proposed $100 million IPO, along with a filing by Virios Therapeutics LLC to raise $35 million on Aug. 28, helped propel a supercharged amount of investment in 2020 that shows no sign of slowing. The pace is unusually swift this year despite hindrances from COVID-19. The total value of IPOs so far in 2020 is $12.95 billion, with 54 completed, easily outpacing 2019’s $8.64 billion.
Bright days are ahead for China’s biopharmaceutical sector, which is getting a reset from the efforts to tackle COVID-19 through innovation and advancements. “I'm consciously optimistic about the fact that cross-border deals will continue,” Stella Xu, managing director, Quan Capital, from Shanghai, China said during a panel discussion at the Chinabio Partnering Forum.
Triumvira Immunologics Inc., a U.S.-Canadian immuno-oncology startup, has raised $55 million in series A financing to back a pipeline of four new T-cell therapy candidates for the potential treatment of both liquid and solid tumors. Bayer AG's Leaps unit and Northpond Ventures led the round. China-based Oceanpine Capital and Viva Biotech Holdings also provided funds.
DUBLIN – Liquid biopsy developer Freenome Inc. has – literally – capitalized on its recent proof-of-concept AI-Emerge colorectal cancer (CRC) screening study by raising $270 million in a series C round that will enable the South San Francisco firm to complete its ongoing Preempt CRC registration study and to file for pre-market approval from the FDA.
Annexon Biosciences Inc.’s handsome $250 million IPO this summer verified the mounting interest in its two front-running C1q inhibitors: ANX-005, which has turned up promising phase Ib data in Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), with a phase II/III effort planned for next year, and ANX-007, due to enter a phase II experiment in geographic atrophy (GA) during 2021 as well.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has brought disruptions to R&D, market activities in the biopharmaceutical sector have remained active during the first half of this year in China. Venture capital investments, IPOs and partnering activity showed upward trends, except for M&A activity, which has declined for two years.
Kinnate Biopharma Inc., a San Diego-based company focused on the discovery and development of small-molecule kinase inhibitors for genomically defined cancers, has raised $98 million in a series C financing.
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