Finance, Grants, Deals

OMass Therapeutics Ltd, a 2016 spin-out from the University of Oxford, has raised $310 million in a Series C financing to support development of its lead programme for congenital adrenal hyperplasia and ACTH-dependent Cushing’s syndrome. Both conditions are rare hormone disorders that feature high levels of the adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) produced by the pituitary gland. OMass’s lead product, OMS1620, is a small molecule drug that binds to a receptor on the adrenal glands to normalise hormone levels.

AstraZeneca Plc is to explore the use of artificial intelligence in drug development and expand its oncology portfolio under two new collaborations with US companies. The first, announced on 28 September, is an equity investment and clinical collaboration with Summit Therapeutics Inc under which the companies will investigate combination therapies of a bispecific antibody from Summit with antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) from AstraZeneca. 

A new platform company focused on the delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA) to cells was launched on 13 October with the goal of addressing one of the main limitations of genetic medicines – reaching tissues beyond the liver. Undecimal Bio Ltd is a spin-out of Eleven Therapeutics (UK) Ltd, a synthetic medicines company. It has raised $18 million in seed financing from a syndicate co-led by 4BIO Capital and IQ Capital of the UK. Its initial therapeutic focus is renovascular disease.

In the US and elsewhere, programmes financed by governments for national defense can take many forms – including to support basic science. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the US, originally founded in the late 1950s to develop satellite technology, has in recent years branched out into computers and vaccines. On 23 September, DARPA stepped deeper into biology with the award of a research grant of up to $14 million to a consortium led by Scarlet Therapeutics Ltd of the UK to develop engineered, laboratory-produced red blood cells for defense.

A syndicate of venture capitalists, with support from the European Regional Development Fund, has raised seed financing of €40 million for Aptadir Therapeutics Srl of Italy to support development of a new RNA therapeutic for difficult genetic disorders. The preclinical compound is being investigated for Fragile X syndrome, an inherited generic, neurological disorder.

Sofinnova Partners SAS has created a new fund to build and support companies developing  medical technologies with plans to launch six to eight new companies over the next five years. This is being enabled by an over-subscribed €82 million financing round announced on 28 September. While the target technologies haven’t been identified, the broad approach is to create companies from the ground up. Explaining this strategy, Antoine Papiernik, managing partner, said the investment group builds and supports “every company from day one.” These assets are then scaled up.

A $123 million financing has been raised for US-based Sling Therapeutics Inc, equipping it to carry out a Phase 3 trial of a candidate therapy for thyroid eye disease – an autoimmune disorder that can affect vision. Announced on 16 September, the Series C round was led by Forbion Capital Partners of the Netherlands with participation from new investor Sectoral Asset Management of Canada and existing investor TPG Life Sciences Innovations of the US.

GSK Plc is to pay up to $750 million to acquire a new asset for multiple myeloma – its latest move to expand its portfolio for blood cancers. The asset is a trispecific T cell engager, an engineered antibody linking the body’s immune cells directly to antigens on cancer cells. There are currently no approved trispecific T cell engagers, but authorisations have been granted to bispecific T cell engagers, a simpler version of the same therapy. Announced on 15 September, the deal includes an undisclosed upfront fee and milestone payments.

France-based ophthalmology company Nicox SA announced an extension of its cash runway on 2 September ahead of regulatory reviews in both the US and China for its lead product NCX 470 (bimatoprost grenod) for two ocular conditions. As of 31 August, the company’s estimated cash and cash equivalents was €8.4 million compared with €4.1 million on 31 December 2025. The company said the cash position will carry it through the regulatory decision period which, if successful, would generate new revenue.

US-based ReCode Therapeutics Inc has strengthened its ties with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation as it progresses an experimental messenger RNA (mRNA) therapy for the disease through the clinic. Simultaneously, it promoted Heather Clark on 1 July to the role of chief executive from vice president and head of the company’s cystic fibrosis franchise. Ms Clark joined ReCode in 2022. She has nearly 30 years of experience in rare disease drug development of which more than half were spent at Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc, developer of five marketed cystic fibrosis products.