Finance, Grants, Deals

BioVersys AG, a Swiss antibiotic developer, has expanded a collaboration with GSK Plc to accelerate development of a candidate product for tuberculosis. The product, alpibectir, has reached Phase 2a and shown an ability to increase the efficacy of ethionamide, an existing antibiotic. GSK will take an equity stake in a Series C financing extension for the company, raising the total proceeds from the round to CHF 44.9 million ($49.4 million). The size of the equity stake wasn’t disclosed. The new agreement was announced on 7 May.

A new gene therapy company with plans to start clinical development of its first product has raised $54 million in a Series A financing round. Latus Bio Inc is a spin-out of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, US, with a new technology for producing adeno-associated viral vectors, one of the most common vectors in use for gene therapies. Announced on 2 May, the financing round was led by 8VC of Texas and DCVC Bio of California.

Novartis is to deepen its presence in radiopharmaceuticals with the acquisition of Mariana Oncology, a preclinical biotechnology company based in the US. Announced on 2 May, the deal involves an upfront cash payment of $1 billion and potential outlays of up to $750 million depending on the achievement of certain undisclosed milestones.

SynOx Therapeutics Ltd, a biotech company co-located in the UK and Ireland, has raised $75 million in a Series B financing round to advance a treatment for tenosynovial giant cell tumour into Phase 3. The financing was co-led by Forbion, HealthCap and new investor Bioqube Ventures of Belgium. It will be used to generate data for a monoclonal antibody treatment called emactuzumab which has already shown a substantial effect on the tumours, which are noncancerous growths that can be chronically debilitating.

A new biotech company was launched in Scotland, UK, on 18 April with the goal of treating complex diseases by stabilising certain proteins in the cell. The company, Outrun Therapeutics Ltd, went public following the receipt of $10 million in seed funding. The investors are M Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Merck KGaA of Germany, and MP Healthcare Venture Management of Boston, US.

Pathios Therapeutics Ltd of the UK has secured financial support from Bristol Myers Squibb Co as part of a Series B venture round that will advance its small molecule drug candidate for cancer into the clinic. The first close of the B round raised $25 million and will support development of PTT-4256, a small molecule inhibitor of a G protein-coupled receptor called GPR65. In addition to BMS, funding was secured from the existing investors Canaan Partners and Brandon Capital Partners.

Genentech Inc and its Swiss parent, Roche, have ended a cell therapy partnership with Adaptimmune Therapeutics Plc which was focused on developing allogeneic T cell therapies for cancer. The reason for the termination, announced on 10 April, wasn’t given. However it comes at a time when other large companies are making staff redundant or divesting early-stage biotech projects. On 11 April, Syncona, the investment group, announced plans to sell a cell therapy portfolio company to Century Therapeutics Inc. This was to prioritise capital allocation on later-stage assets.

Sumagen Co Ltd, a Korean-Canadian company developing an experimental vaccine for HIV-1, is to start manufacturing the product for use in clinical trials under a new partnership with Naobios SAS of France. Naobios is a contract development and manufacturing organisation. Announced on 15 April, the companies did not disclose the financial terms. There are currently no approved vaccines for HIV, a disease that is estimated to affect 39 million people worldwide. The Sumagen product is based on recombinant genetically modified virus technology.

Two small European companies have announced a collaboration under which they plan to repurpose an approved medicine for chemotherapy induced nausea to be used in patients with lung cancer. The business deal was announced on 9 April and involves PlusVitech of Spain and Nanoform Finland Plc of Finland. It focuses on progressing a small Phase 2 study in patients with non-small cell lung cancer refractory to standard treatment. The current formulation of the drug involves the administration of potentially dozens of capsules per day to patients who are frail and may have dysphagia.

Citing a need to conserve capital, the Syncona investment group, has divested its portfolio company Clade Therapeutics Inc to Century Therapeutics Inc of the US. Syncona is to sell Clade for up to $45 million. This includes an upfront consideration of $35 million in a combination of cash and shares in Century, along with potential milestone payments of $10 million.