Finance, Grants, Deals

Ireland-based Jazz Pharmaceuticals Plc is to expand its presence in neuroscience with the acquisition of GW Pharmaceuticals Inc which has pioneered the development and commercialisation of medicines derived from cannabinoids. The transaction is valued at $7.2 billion, or $6.7 billion net of GW Pharma’s cash.

A joint venture cell and gene therapy company set up by UK-based Avacta Group Plc and South Korea’s Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co Ltd has closed a Series A financing of $7.3 million to further develop its pipeline of advanced therapies. The venture, AffyXell Therapeutics, was established in 2020 and is located in South Korea.

The German vaccine producer CureVac NV has announced the pricing of a follow-on share issue on Nasdaq giving total gross proceeds of $450 million. This comes five months after the company, which is developing a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine for Covid-19, raised $245.3 million in an initial public offering. In the latest financing, CureVac issued five million common shares at a price of $90 per share.

Enthera Pharmaceuticals Srl has closed a Series A financing at €35 million, giving it the resources to bring its lead product for Type 1 diabetes and gastrointestinal diseases into the clinic and develop other assets. The Italian company is developing biologics that are designed to inhibit a protein interaction thought to be critical in the death of beta cells in the pancreas and stem cells in the gut.

A spin-out of Harvard University in Cambridge, US, has raised seed funding of $5 million to develop a therapy for the delivery of healthy mitochondria into cells where these organelles are impaired. Cellvie Inc received the funding from an investment group led by Kizoo Technology Capital which supports start-up companies and early-stage portfolios. Founded in the US and headquartered near Zurich, Switzerland, Cellvie is developing cell-based medicines for treating mitochondria dysfunction.

An Israeli company which is developed new antimicrobial peptides has won €10.8 million in European Union funding to conduct early clinical studies of a product directed against infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria. Omnix Medical Ltd of Jerusalem has developed its technology by studying how insects use their innate immune systems to kill bacteria – an evolutionary mechanism that goes back millions of years.

MiNA Therapeutics Ltd has secured a new collaboration for its small activating RNA (saRNA) technology which can potentially restore normal cell function by activating gene expression. The partner is Servier of France which has agreed to pay up to €220 million for access to the technology to identify the first target for an undisclosed neurological disorder.

Ireland-based Neurent Medical Ltd has raised $25 million in Series B financing to prepare its lead product for chronic rhinitis for a regulatory application and commercialisation in the US. The product is a medical device to treat symptoms of chronic rhinitis and other inflammatory conditions. The funding round was led by new investor LSP (Life Sciences Partners), from its Health Economics Fund 2, and co-led by Atlantic Bridge. Fountain Healthcare Partners also participated as a returning investor.

Merus NV of the Netherlands has secured a research collaboration with Eli Lilly and Co to develop three bispecific antibody therapies for cancer. The deal gives Merus a financial lift while enabling Lilly to enter the bispecific antibody space which is currently occupied by other large pharma companies such as Amgen Inc and Roche.

A new US company has been launched to progress a small molecule drug to inhibit the replication of SARS-CoV-2 and other RNA viruses. CoviCept Therapeutics Inc has received seed funding of $2.3 million from Forbion, the Netherlands-based life sciences venture capital firm. The new company is based in San Diego, US.