Meccellis Biotech Group SAS reported closing an $8.25 million series B funding round to launch its biological implant technology on the US market. The exercise was supported by investment worth $5 million from Ocean Participations SAS alongside new funds from Volney Development SAS, Nouvelle-Aquitaine Co-Investissement SAS and the Poitou-Charentes business angel network Synergence Invest SAS.

While NASA gets the glory for exploration of the vast unknown of space, Bionaut Labs Ltd. hopes to reap similar fame by transforming travel through the brain with Bionauts, microrobots designed to deliver therapeutic payloads across the blood-brain barrier. To help achieve that mission, the company raised $43.2 million in a series B financing round led by Khosla Ventures.

Zenas Biopharma LLC has raised $118 million in a series B round to support a global phase III trial of its lead asset as well as other immunotherapies for autoimmune diseases in its pipeline. The study, expected to begin in 2023, will evaluate obexelimab for the treatment of patients with immunoglobulin G4-related disease in late 2022.

Zenas Biopharma LLC has raised $118 million in a series B round to support a global phase III trial of its lead asset as well as other immunotherapies for autoimmune diseases in its pipeline. The study, expected to begin in 2023, will evaluate obexelimab for the treatment of patients with immunoglobulin G4-related disease in late 2022.

Zhuhai Beihai Biotech Co. Ltd. has raised nearly ¥200 million (US$27.5 million) in a series B round slated to support clinical trials for its lead candidates as well as preparations to file an NDA for its core asset, BH-009.

Novadip Biosciences SA has raised an additional €40 million in a series B equity round and nondilutive funding to accelerate the clinical development of two of the company's investigational adipose stem cell (ASC)-derived tissue regeneration products.

Zhuhai Beihai Biotech Co. Ltd. has raised nearly ¥200 million (US$27.5 million) in a series B round slated to support clinical trials for its lead candidates as well as preparations to file an NDA for its core asset, BH-009, an injectable formulation of docetaxel that excludes polysorbate 80 (Tween 80), a surfactant that has been associated with increased risk of adverse events, including hypersensitivity. The company claims that no similar product is currently available worldwide.

It was a good week for companies focused on minimally invasive brain surgery. Monteris Medical Corp. received $35 million in a series D equity financing and a $38 million debt facility to support market adoption and clinical research on its Neuroblate system, a laser ablation system that provides a minimally invasive option for brain surgery. Nico Corp. also raised additional funds, with a $12.5 million oversubscribed round for its devices, which do not require cutting through the brain but instead use the natural folds of the brain to reach abnormalities.