Autoimmune disease specialist Scirhom GmbH has raised €63 million (US$68 million) in a series A to take an antibody against iRhom2, an enzyme that regulates TNF-alpha secretion, into the clinic. The company has approval for a phase I trial in healthy volunteers that will start later this year, with plans for proof-of-concept trials in rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease to follow.
Endoron Medical Ltd. raised $10 million in its series A funding round to accelerate clinical validation work on its catheter-based endostapling system, Aortoseal, which repairs abdominal aortic aneurysms. The round was led by Sofinnova Partners, with participation from the European Innovation Council Fund.
Myricx Bio Ltd. has closed the largest series A for a European biotech this year, raising £90 million (US$115.4 million), to take forward antibody-drug conjugates based on novel payload chemistry.
Smartcella Holding AB raised €50 million (US$54 million) in a new share issue that it will use to accelerate growth and ramp up commercialization of its endovascular Extroducer delivery device, in addition to strengthening its cell and mRNA operations. The funding is supported by existing and new investors including Astrazeneca, which committed to approximately half of the shares issued.
U.K scientists and ethicists have drawn up a code of practice for research in stem cell-derived embryo models, filling a governance gap that has opened up as these organoids have become more sophisticated and increasingly resemble their natural counterparts. “Synthetic” embryos now have the ability to organize into complex structures that approximate aspects of early human development, such as a beating heart, complex neural structures capable of signaling, sensory perception and limb-like structures.
Health ministers from EU member states called for action to “enhance access to innovative medicines” following a Council meeting on June 21, when they agreed to continue work on improving health policy coordination across the bloc. Health must be “kept as a priority” by the new European Commission that is shortly due to start a five-year term, following the June EU elections, ministers said, setting out the key areas where they want the incoming commission to concentrate its efforts.
Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, and their collaborators at The Institute of Cancer Research, London and the University of Cambridge assessed the health impact of all possible genetic changes in the tumor protection gene, BRCA1-associated protein 1 gene.
Serac Imaging Systems Ltd. is seeing encouraging results from ongoing trials at three sites, which are comparing its Seracam portable hybrid gamma-optical camera for medical imaging to standard of care nuclear medicine imaging, Mark Rosser, CEO of the company, told BioWorld.
One year after arriving on the scene with a $120 million series A, ophthalmic gene therapy specialist Beacon Therapeutics Ltd. has raised $170 million in a series B.
Curevac AG is casting off the deadweight of its pandemic push to translate its mRNA technology into a marketed COVID-19 vaccine, in a new €1.45 billion (US$1.6 billion) deal in which GSK plc will acquire full rights to infectious disease vaccines the two were co-developing.
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