Evotec AG has expanded its capacity to discover new drugs through the use of adult stem cells that have been reprogrammed to produce any type of cell in the human body. These induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells can be used to model disease and identify prospective treatments.
Netherlands-based BioGeneration Ventures has secured new commitments for its third investment fund, BGV III, enabling it to expand the number of companies to which it provides seed capital. The new commitments raise the fund’s capital to €66 million.
China’s Creat Group Corp, one of the country’s large investors in foreign companies, is purchasing Germany’s Biotest AG, a Frankfurt Stock Exchange-listed biologics company, for about €1.2 billion.
A UK medical charity has decided that royalty income from intellectual property that it licensed to the developers of Keytruda, should be reinvested in innovation. The charity, LifeArc, has therefore set up two new funds to support academic research and early-stage biotech companies.
It has been a little more than a year since Medicxi Ventures (UK) LLP was spun out of Index Ventures to provide capital to early life science in Europe. Now, the venture fund has expanded its reach with the launch of a new fund that will finance later stage assets.
Kiadis Pharma NV of the Netherlands has raised €5 million in new funds from a private placement of its shares which will help finance a Phase 3 study of its lead cell therapy for immune reconstitution, which was submitted for review by the European Medicines Agency on 26 April.
Bonesupport Holding AB, a Swedish orthobiologics company, has announced plans to raise SEK 500 million (€51.2 million) on Nasdaq Stockholm in order to expand sales of its bioceramic bone graft substitutes that are used to treat bone infections and trauma.
Merck KGaA has taken steps to bolster its immuno-oncology portfolio with the signing of an option and collaboration agreement with F-star Biotechnology Ltd to develop five bispecific antibody compounds. A bispecific antibody is an engineered molecule that binds to two different antigens.
Bicycle Therapeutics Ltd has raised £40 million in a Series B financing round to bring its first peptide-based therapeutic into the clinic. The financing was led by Vertex Ventures, along with Cambridge Innovation Capital and the Longwood Fund.
Belgium-based Argenx NV has made its debut on the Nasdaq over-the-counter market in the US, capping what has been nearly a decade of successful antibody discovery and development. On 17 May, it announced the pricing of an initial public offering (IPO) of its shares that was set to yield $100 million.