A new company focused on obesity and cardiometabolic disorders was launched on 9 January with $411 million in a Series A venture financing. Named Verdiva Bio Ltd the company is registered in the UK with leadership in Europe and North America and a start-up portfolio from China. The company’s financing syndicate is co-led by Forbion of the Netherlands and the US private equity group General Atlantic with five other participants including Lilly Asia Ventures.
Demand for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) took a leap on 9 January after Netherlands-based Synaffix BV disclosed two new deals for its proprietary ADC technology. The first agreement is with Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp of Japan and the second with Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH of Germany. The value of the Mitsubishi deal was not disclosed, however that with Boehringer involves a potential milestone payment of up to $1.3 billion in addition to an undisclosed upfront payment.
The Belgian biotech Galapagos NV is to separate into two publically listed biotech entities with a focus on cell therapy and medical innovation. Announced on 8 January, the transaction will create an incubator company, provisionally called SpinCo, and a reconfigured Galapagos with a focus on cell therapies. SpinCo will be capitalised with approximately €2.45 billion of cash from Galapagos to investigate new medicines in oncology, immunology and/or virology. It will seek a listing on the Euronext stock exchange.
Merck Inc has entered into a licensing deal with the Chinese pharmaceutical group Hansoh Pharma to gain access to a preclinical obesity asset, bringing it into a field currently dominated by Eli Lilly and Co and Novo Nordisk A/S. The asset, HS-10535, is an oral small molecule glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist.
New York Life Investments, a US money manager and its European affiliate Candriam, have entered a partnership under which New York Life, through its affiliate network, will take a 40% minority stake in Andera Partners, the Paris-based investment group. The goal is to jointly expand their pool of clients. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Andera manages €4.3 billion in assets for institutional and private investors. New York Life has a much deeper portfolio with assets under management of $750 billion.
The Swiss neuroscience company Noema Pharma AG has received fresh financing from the private equity group EQT Life Sciences in order to advance its lead drug candidate for two rare diseases and its pipeline of other central nervous system disorders. The Series B extension brings total capital raised in the round up to CHF 130 million ($145.7 million). This figure includes earlier contributions from Forbion, Jeito Capital, and Sofinnova Partners, among the venture capital groups.
Citryll BV, a Dutch biotech, has raised €85 million in a Series B venture capital round to advance a monoclonal antibody drug for two inflammatory diseases by targeting a network of extracellular fibers derived from neutrophils. Neutrophils are the body’s first line of defence against infection. One of their methods of protection is to create neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), primarily composed of DNA from neutrophils, that can engulf and kill pathogens. But these NETs can also contribute to disease if produced in excess.
The private equity group, EQT Life Sciences, is lead investor in a €6.5 million Series A financing round for an Irish medical device company that is seeking regulatory approval to market a new product for use in Caesarean-section (C-section) surgery. The company, Nua Surgical Ltd, has developed a self-retaining retractor for the delivery of a baby when a vaginal delivery can’t be done safely. According to EQT, the device enables clinicians to deliver the baby, repair tissue, and identify bleeds with a single-use sterile tool.
GSK Plc is to acquire a candidate immunotherapy from Chimagen Biosciences Ltd of Shanghai, China in order to strengthen its portfolio of candidate products for autoimmune diseases. Announced on 29 October, the agreement involves an upfront payment of $300 million by GSK for full global rights to the asset, CMG1A46, which is a clinical-stage dual CD19 and CD20-targeted T cell engager. In addition, Chimagen will be eligible for development and commercial milestone payments totalling $550 million.
Agomab Therapeutics NV of Belgium has raised $89 million in new capital to advance a pipeline of candidate products for fibrotic disorders. Announced on 25 October, the Series D round brings total funds raised from investors to more than $320 million since the company’s launch in 2017. Agomab’s newest investors are Sanofi SA and Invus, a US private equity company. Existing investors include Fidelity Management & Research Co and EQT Life Sciences.