Draupnir Bio is poised to advance a new approach to targeted protein degradation by engaging the sortilin receptor on lysosomes to promote the destruction of extracellular and membrane-bound disease proteins.

Alkira Bio, a new spinout from Australia’s Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health has emerged from stealth mode thanks to seed funding from Curie.bio. Although the amount of funding is not disclosed, Curie.bio typically invests $5 million to $10 million in a founder company and then co-pilots the drug discovery program, deploying drug development experts to its portfolio companies to help navigate decision making as part of the deal, Florey researcher turned Alkira Bio CEO Daniel Scott told BioWorld.

After reaching a height in 2021, seed and series A rounds have fallen in recent years, and 2024 is no exception, although amounts raised are tracking slightly ahead of last year. On July 23, the numbers were given a boost when two new companies – namely Dover, Del.-based Brenig Therapeutics Inc. and Boston-based Third Arc Bio Inc. – raised $65 million and $165 million, respectively, in series A financings. A third new company, Abiologics Inc., also received $50 million in initial funding.

Spotlight Medical SAS recently raised €6.2 million (US$6.7 million) in seed funding to bring its first artificial intelligence-powered cancer test to the market as it looks to transform treatment of the disease. “We believe our personalized testing approach will revolutionize cancer treatment, providing everyone with the best possible chance to beat cancer,” Sylvain Berlemont, CEO of Spotlight told BioWorld.

New company Pan Cancer T BV is preparing for a clinical trial of a next-generation T-cell receptor-engineered T cell it has designed to remove the current barriers and make T-cell therapies effective in treating solid tumors. Its products have two distinguishing features: They are targeted at antigens the company has shown are exclusively and robustly expressed by multiple solid cancers, and have a minor genetic modification that enhances the durability of autologous TCR-Ts in the tumor microenvironment after they are administered back into a patient.

Waypoint Bio has raised $14.5 million in seed funding to support its work pioneering novel cell therapies for solid tumors using in vivo spatial pooled screening technology.

On the heels of a $7 million seed round, Singapore-based medical technology startup Thrixen Pte Ltd. is accelerating development of its diagnostic technology platform that has the potential to perform multiplex diagnostic tests at the point of care.

Fledgling biotech Ternarx Pty Ltd. has emerged from stealth mode and is the first of its kind in Australia to develop targeted protein degrader technology to destroy disease-causing proteins that cannot be targeted by conventional drugs. The Melbourne-based company will initially develop targeted protein degraders against currently undrugged transcription factors in cancers with significant unmet need, starting with neuroblastoma and prostate cancer.

Focused on oral therapies for obesity, diabetes and rare diseases, Boston-based Syntis Bio Inc., which raised $15.5 million through seed funding last year, emerged from stealth to advance its synthetic tissue-lining technology and a pipeline of candidates.