UK-based Autolus Ltd has secured $80 million in Series C capital from new and existing investors to advance the development of its engineered T cell therapies for cancer. The new investors include US-based Cormorant Asset Management and Nextech Invest of Switzerland.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is to invest up to $40 million in Immunocore Ltd to support the development of the company’s T cell receptor technology (TCR) for infectious disease. The UK company already has partnerships exploring TCRs against cancer.
The Italian gene therapy company, Genenta Science srl, has raised €7 million in a Series B financing round to support development of a second tumor indication for its technology platform in addition to multiple myeloma. The funding was announced on 13 September.
Merck & Co Inc is to acquire Rigontec GmbH of Germany in order to strengthen its portfolio of immuno-oncology compounds led by pembrolizumab. Rigontec has assets that target the retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I) pathway, part of the innate immune system.
Nightstar Therapeutics Ltd plans to raise up to $86 million in an initial public offering (IPO) of its shares on Nasdaq to advance its portfolio of gene therapies to treat rare inherited retinal diseases. A registration document was filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on 31 August.
Gilead Sciences Inc has made a dramatic entry to the field of regenerative medicine with an agreed bid for Kite Pharma Inc which has a portfolio of engineered cell therapies, the most advanced of which is under review in both the US and the EU.
Macrophage Pharma Ltd has topped up a Series A financing round announced in January with an investment from Merck Ventures BV, a subsidiary of Merck KGaA. The size of the investment is reportedly £3 million, bringing the total raised in the A round up to £12 million.
A Munich-area company specialising in messenger RNA (mRNA) technology has entered into a drug discovery deal with AstraZeneca Plc. Ethris GmbH will receive €25 million upfront, plus research funding, to develop therapies for respiratory diseases.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc has entered into a collaboration with Insilico Medicine Inc to use the US company’s artificial intelligence (AI) platform to discover new drugs. This is its second AI deal in less than two months.
Underwriters for the US initial public share offering of Zealand Pharma A/S have exercised an option to buy more shares, increasing proceeds for the Danish company to DKK 566.4 million ($89.4 million), up from DKK 492.5 million ($78.3 million) previously.