Finance, Grants, Deals

Nyxoah SA, a Belgian medical device company, has made an initial public offering of its shares on Euronext Brussels, raising up to €85 million to develop and market its device for obstructive sleep apnoea. The company began trading on 18 September under the ticker symbol NYXH. The offer price was set at €17 per share giving the company an initial market capitalisation of €364 million.

Chiesi Farmaceutici SpA, the Italian healthcare group, has enlisted the expertise of US-based Moderna Inc in order to discover and develop new therapeutics for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a progressive disorder characterised by high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs. The companies will use Moderna’s messenger RNA (mRNA) technology as the basis for their research.

LAVA Therapeutics BV, a four-year old company investigating bispecific antibodies directed against gamma-delta T cells, has raised $83 million to bring its programmes into clinical development for cancer. The oversubscribed Series C financing round was co-led by Novo Ventures, the venture arm of Novo Holdings, and Sanofi Ventures. Nanna Lüneborg, a partner at Novo Ventures, will join the company’s board of directors.

AstraZeneca Plc has agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to acquire a preclinical small molecule programme from Dogma Therapeutics Inc for the potential treatment of dyslipidaemia, a disorder characterised by abnormal amounts of lipids in the blood. The small molecule inhibits PCSK9, a protein that regulates levels of low-density lipoproteins. High levels of these lipoproteins can lead to a build-up of cholesterol in the arteries, a risk for cardiovascular disease.

Gilead Sciences Inc is to spend $21 billion to expand its oncology portfolio with the acquisition of Immunomedics Inc of Morris Plains, New Jersey, US. Immunomedics has a marketed antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) for triple-negative breast cancer which is said to have potential in other cancer indications both as a monotherapy and in combination with other treatments. The takeover was announced on 13 September after being unanimously approved by the boards of both companies. It is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

MiNA Therapeutics Ltd, which is developing drugs based on small activating RNA molecules, has raised £23 million in a Series A financing round to advance the clinical development of its lead product as a combination treatment for cancer. The financing was led by the Israeli venture capital fund aMoon, with participation from existing investors.

Nestle Health Science is to take full ownership of the food allergy company Aimmune Therapeutics Inc in an all-cash transaction that values the company at $2.6 billion. Nestle already owns 25.6% of Aimmune and will acquire the remaining equity for $34.50 per share, representing a 174% premium to the company’s closing share price on Nasdaq on 28 August.

Johnson & Johnson Inc is to significantly expand its presence in drugs for autoimmune diseases with the acquisition of Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc in an all cash transaction valued at approximately $6.5 billion. Momenta’s lead product, nipocalimab, is in Phase 3 for the treatment of a rare autoimmune disorder called warm autoimmune haemolytic anaemia.

Germany-based CureVac NV, which is developing a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine against Covid-19, has closed its initial public offering of shares on the US Nasdaq market, raising a gross $245.3 million, including the full exercise of the underwriters’ share options. The stock was priced at $16 per share.

Sanofi SA is to acquire Principia Biopharma Inc of the US and its pipeline of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors in a deal valued at approximately $3.36 billion. The two companies have been collaborating since 2017 and the merger is expected to trigger increased investment across the BTK inhibitor class of molecules.